by Stephen Culp

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended lower on Tuesday, notably due to the decline in high-growth stocks, in a climate of investor caution as the highly anticipated two-day meeting of the Reserve began American federal government (Fed).

The Dow Jones index fell 0.31%, or 106.57 points, to 34,517.73 points.

The broader S&P-500 lost 9.58 points, or 0.22%, to 4,443.95 points.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 32.05 points (0.23%) to 13,678.19 points.

On the eve of the Fed’s press release, which should announce the maintenance of its interest rates at their current level, investors favored profit-taking, to the detriment in particular of high-growth stocks, which are sensitive to rates.

“Markets are really focused on any change in communication from the Federal Reserve,” said Helena Montana, chief investment officer at US Bank Wealth Management, who added she expected the central bank’s comments to be scrutinized. on inflation.

In addition to its monetary policy, the US central bank will release its quarterly economic forecasts on Wednesday, which will outline the expected trajectory of inflation and economic growth, as well as the interest rate curve.

“What’s being factored in is a pause (in the Fed’s rate hike campaign) but also the risk that rates remain high for longer,” said Michael Green, chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management in Philadelphia. .

If the Fed were to indicate in its report that it rules out the possibility of a rate cut next year, the pause which would be decided on Wednesday will be “overall considered very conservative”.

Financial markets are banking with almost certainty on a pause in the rate tightening cycle, which would be the second since the Fed launched this campaign in March 2022 with the objective of curbing galloping inflation. The hypothesis of a new break in November has gained weight in recent days.

Nine of the eleven main sectors of the S&P-500 ended the session in the red, including energy.

On the values ​​side, among the movements of the session to note, the decline of Walt Disney after the announcement of a massive investment plan to increase the capacity of its amusement parks over the next ten years.

Starbucks finished lower after TD Cowen downgraded its recommendation to “underperform.”

While the main union of American auto workers threatened a broader strike starting Friday if no wage agreement was found with three manufacturers, two of them, General Motors and Ford, made progress.

( Jean Terzian)

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