Stocks fell in Wednesday's session with the Dow and S&P 500 posting sharp 1.1% losses. The Nasdaq fared slightly better with a 0.9% decline. Today, futures are pointing to more losses at the opening bell. S&P 500 contracts are currently down 0.8%, and Dow futures are down 0.9%.
Scaling Back
Minutes from the Federal Reserve board's most recent meeting were released during yesterday's session, and the notes revealed the Fed is taking emergency action to roll back $120 million in asset purchases.
Wall Street doesn't like it when Uncle Sam turns the tap off, and the market unsurprisingly closed the day with sharp losses on the heels of the news. The Fed has no choice but to ultimately rollback its stimulus measures, but it's going to be a painful time for the market.
All three benchmark US indices are hovering near all-time highs and stimulus is a big reason for it. As the Fed begins to turn off the tap, we could see some downward moves in the market.
