US stocks lost ground for a third consecutive session on growing uncertainty over when the Federal Reserve may start to wind down its stimulus, which has been a driving force behind the rally in equities this year.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 48.07 points or 0.31 percent, to end at 15,470.67. The S&P 500 declined 6.46 points or 0.38 percent, to 1,690.91. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 11.761 points or 0.32 percent, to 3,654.009.
European stocks slipped today, weighed down by concerns that the U.S. and UK central banks may start to tighten monetary policy sooner than markets had expected.
Britain’s FTSE 100 led the market lower, down 1.4 percent, after the Bank of England said on Wednesday it planned to keep interest rates at current record lows until unemployment falls to 7 percent, a more modest target than some had expected.
And Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, typically among the most dovish policymakers, said late yesterday the central bank will probably trim its bond-buying later this year and could do so next month, depending on economic data.
The FTSEurofirst 300 closed down 0.3 percent at 1,217.59 points, drifting back from two-month highs hit earlier this week.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei average tumbled 4 percent suffering the biggest one-day percentage loss since mid-June as the dollar fell to a six-week low to the yen, while heavyweights were sold off ahead of Friday’s options settlement.
The benchmark Nikkei shed 576.12 points to a one-week low of 13,824.94. The broader Topix dropped 3.2 percent to 1,155.26 in relatively thin trade, with all of its 33 sectors falling.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald