U.S.
stocks ended lower, after swinging between gains and losses, as the
Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates near zero percent
raised questions about the strength of the global economy.
The
Fed kept its policy interest rate unchanged, showing reluctance to end
an era of record monetary stimulus in a time of market turmoil, rising
international risks and slow inflation at home. Stocks erased an advance
after Chair Janet Yellen indicated that risks in the global economy
overshadowed signs of strength in America while inflation remained
stubbornly low.
The
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.3 percent to 1,990.19 at 4 p.m.
in New York, reversing a gain of as much as 1.3 percent. Stocks most
sensitive to interest rates had the largest moves, with utilities and
real-estate companies advancing more than 0.9 percent while banks lost
2.4 percent.
The
decision to stand pat on rates keeps a pillar of the bull market in
place, as record-low borrowing costs have helped propel stocks higher by
nearly 200 percent in the past 6 1/2 years.
It
also amplifies uncertainty about the strength of the American economy
at a time financial markets have been roiled by concern that a slowdown
in China will spread. The S&P 500 had fallen 3.1 percent this year
through Wednesday after three years of double-digit gains.
Source: Bloomberg
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