S&P 500 ends lower in Fed rally reversal
Reuters
Published Mar 19, 2015 04:34PM ET
S&P 500 ends lower in Fed rally reversal
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Thursday as a stronger dollar weighed on oil and other commodity prices, sending energy and materials sectors lower.
The greenback rose after a sharp decline on Wednesday. The Federal Reserve appeared to be more dovish than expected even as it opened the door for a Fed funds rate hike as soon as in June. U.S. stocks rose more than 1 percent on Wednesday after the Fed statement.
WTI crude CLc1 fell 1.9 percent and Brent LCOc1 fell 2.6 percent as the dollar strengthened, and on concerns over excess supply. The S&P 500 energy index <.SPNY> fell 1.7 percent.
"The forward path in interest rates is going to be slower than previously expected. The market celebrated that yesterday, and now it's wondering what comes next," said Kevin Caron, market strategist at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co in Florham Park, New Jersey.
Initial jobless claims rose marginally last week, indicating the labor market remained on solid footing. Growth has slowed in the first quarter, hurt in part by a harsh winter and a strong dollar, but many analysts see a positive outlook for the second quarter.
About 6.2 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, below the 6.67 billion daily average so far this month.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,969 to 1,071, for a 1.84-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, 1,441 issues rose and 1,288 fell, for a 1.12-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 36 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows; on the Nasdaq Composite there were 149 new highs and 28 new lows.
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