Wall Street lower on profit-taking

NEW YORK: US stocks ended lower Monday on profit-taking after four winning weeks and ahead of a meeting of Federal Reserve policymakers who could offer clues on the timing of any interest rate hike.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 32.12 points (0.34 per cent) to close at 9,337.95 after soaring Friday to its highest level since November following a positive July jobs report signaling a likely turnaround in the long and painful recession.The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 8.01 points (0.40 per cent) to 1,992.24 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, measuring the broader market, dipped 3.38 points (0.33 per cent) to 1,007.10.

Analysts said investors locked in profits that followed the recent rally and awaited economic data this week to try to determine the sustainability of the market momentum.“Activity could be muted heading into Wednesday’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting, as analysts debate the Fed’s stance on monetary policy and any potential changes in the central bank’s language,” said Joseph Hargett of Schaeffer’s Investment Research.

The Fed’s monetary policy meeting Tuesday and Wednesday is widely expected to keep on hold the ultralow federal funds rates in a range of zero to 0.25 per cent to stimulate lending and prop up economic activity.But the central bank could make some changes however in its special efforts to pump over US$1 trillion of liquidity into the financial system — which some call “quantitative easing” — that may no longer be needed, some economists said.The Fed meeting and Thursday’s retail sales reports “will likely go a long way in determining if the recent run in the equities is in line with the economic reality,” said analysts at Charles Schwab & Co in a note to clients. -- AFP