by Abigail Summerville

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended lower on Wednesday as U.S. Treasury yields hit a record high and concerns about the expected pace of monetary easing from the U.S. Federal Reserve persisted.

The Dow Jones index fell 1.1%, or 411.32 points, to 38,441.54 points.

The broader S&P-500 lost 39.09 points, or 0.7%, to 5,266.95 points.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 99.3 points (0.6%) to 16,920.58 points.

The yield on the ten-year US Treasury US10YT=RR reached a level not seen in four weeks on Wednesday, at 4.6%.

“We continue to see this rise in bond yields, which is putting pressure on stocks. This volatile and uneven recovery continues,” said James Abate, fund manager at Center American Select Equity.

Expectations regarding the extent and start of an interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) have fueled market questions.

A surprise improvement in U.S. consumer confidence in May on Tuesday, as well as comments from Fed Governor Neel Kashkari in an interview, forced traders to revise their estimates for a rate cut.

They now expect only one decline this year which would occur in November or December, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch barometer.

Investors are awaiting the publication of the monthly PCE price index in the United States this week, scheduled for Friday.

In values, ConocoPhillips fell after announcing the purchase of Marathon Oil for a company value of 15 billion dollars, which for its part increased.

Dick’s Sporting Goods jumped after raising its annual sales and profit forecast.

Airlines fell in the wake of American Airlines, which fell after cutting its profit forecast for the current quarter on Tuesday.

(With the contribution of Johann M Cherian and Lisa Pauline Mattackal; Camille Raynaud)

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