US stocks slid today after legislators in Washington reached a provisional budget deal, which increased investor expectations that the US Federal Reserve may wind down its stimulus in the coming months.
The bipartisan agreement, reached late yesterdday, would end three years of impasse and fiscal instability in Washington that culminated in October with a partial government shutdown.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 88.65 points or 0.55 percent, to 15,884.48. The S&P 500 slid 13.95 points or 0.77 percent, to 1,788.67. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 40.211 points or 0.99 percent, to 4,020.279.
European shares steadied after falling in the previous session, with RBS a big loser on the departure of its finance chief, as uncertainty over the outlook for US monetary policy looked set to cap any broader gains.
The FTSEurofirst was up 0.1 percent at 1,263.98 having dropped 0.7 percent on Tuesday. The index is some 4 percent below a five-year high of 1,316 hit in early November. The euro zone’s blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index , was up 0.2 percent at 2,966.67 points.
Shares have been drifting lower on uncertainty over when the US Federal Reserve will start scaling back its monetary stimulus, with recent robust US data having re-ignited speculation it could start the process before year-end.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei share average declined which traders attributed to a reduction in investor exposure to risky assets as they waited to see if the US Federal Reserve will taper its stimulus soon. The Nikkei ended down 0.6 percent at 15,515.06, extending its declines into a second day. The Topix fell 0.5 percent to 1,250.45.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald