Fed taper anxiety triggers profit taking on Wall Street

Friday, 13 December 2013 00:47 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Stocks posted their largest drop in a month on Wednesday as traders locked in recent gains after a provisional budget deal out of Washington removed one of the near-term reasons for the Fed to keep up its current pace of economic stimulus. Last September, the Fed cited the possibility of a hit to the economy if lawmakers didn’t agree on a budget as one reason to maintain its $85-billion-a-month bond-buying program. The bipartisan budget agreement reached late Tuesday would end three years of political confrontations and fiscal instability in Washington that climaxed in October with a partial government shutdown. A vote in the US House of Representatives could come as soon as Thursday. The Fed’s stimulus has been instrumental in a rally that has put the S&P 500 on track to close its strongest year in more than a decade. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 129.60 points or 0.81%, to end at 15,843.53. The S&P 500 slid 20.40 points or 1.13%, to close at 1,782.22. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 56.677 points or 1.4%, to finish at 4,003.813. The 25% rally in the S&P 500 so far this year served as a reason for traders to sell some equities and lock in gains. The benchmark index slid throughout the day.

Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event including Valentine ’s Day. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Flower Bouquets, Clothing, Watches, Lingerie, Gift Sets and Jewellery. Also if you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.