by Stephen Culp

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended lower on Wednesday after the release of the minutes of the March meeting of the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) showed that several of its officials expressed concerns about the banking sector , shaken by the bankruptcy of two regional banks.

The Dow Jones index fell 0.11%, or 38.29 points, to 33,646.50 points.

The broader S&P-500 fell 16.99 points, or 0.41%, to 4,091.95 points.

The Nasdaq Composite fell for its part by 102.54 points (0.85%) to 11,929.34 points.

Jagged throughout the session, the main Wall Street indices rose briefly in the wake of the publication of the “minutes” of the Fed, before seeing their gains fade and switch into the red.

The Federal Reserve meeting minutes “clearly show that the Fed is currently concerned about the banking crisis as well as high prices,” said Greg Bassuk, managing director of AXS Investments in New York.

He added that he anticipates volatility on Wall Street as economic data is mixed and “investors overreact to any positive or negative cues” on the Fed’s rate hike campaign.

Earlier in the day, a report showing a bigger than expected slowdown in US consumer prices in March suggested US central bank policy was paying off.

But the data also pointed to all-measures inflation still twice the Fed’s 2% target, fueling speculation of another rate hike after May’s policy meeting.

Noting that the Fed was a “consensus-driven” institution, Zach Hill, a manager at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, North Carolina, said the market was very eager for a “pause and turn” in Fed policy. central bank, but that it “does not communicate that at all”.

“We’ve seen some progress on inflation, people have started digging, and the initial optimism has reversed. Basic data is showing improvement but it’s well above where it needs to be,” he commented.

Ahead of the publication of the “minutes” of the American central bank, the president of the Fed of Richmond, Tom Barkin, underlined the distance which remained to go to bring inflation closer to the objective of the Fed.

A majority of financial market participants expect the Fed to raise rates by another 25 basis points next month.

Investors now have their eyes on the first quarterly results, those of major US banks, expected on Friday and which should probably serve as catalysts on Wall Street.

Analysts are currently anticipating quarterly results for S&P-500 companies down 5.2% year on year, a sharp turnaround when growth of 1.4% was expected at the start of the year, according to Refinitiv data.

Among the eleven major sectors of the S&P-500, seven ended the session down. The industry was the best performer.

Side values, to note, the decline of 9.2% of American Airlines after the airline said to expect a quarterly turnover below expectations.

( Jean Terzian)

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