NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar slid to a three-month low and a gauge of global equities edged lower on Wednesday as investors awaited news at the end of a two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve and its plans to strengthen a nascent U.S. economic recovery.
The technology-centric Nasdaq hit a new high and Asian equities extended a streak overnight, but stocks were mostly subdued even as the Fed is likely to emphasize its promise of loose monetary policy for perhaps years to come.
U.S. Treasury yields fell on expectations the Fed will signal its intention to keep interest rates near zero for the next few years as it attempts to revive a U.S. economy now officially in recession since February.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.14% while the pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.52%.
Hank Smith, co-chief investment officer at Haverford Trust, said the firm is bullish intermediate to long-term as the Fed will be accommodative for several years, but he acknowledged a “breather” is due for stocks.
“A pullback would be healthy and one cannot rule out a correction, given the magnitude of this advance,” Smith said in a note.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 227.39 points, or 0.83%, to 27,044.91. The S&P 500 lost 12.54 points, or 0.39%, to 3,194.64 and the Nasdaq Composite added 50.95 points, or 0.51%, to 10,004.70.
Demand remains subdued as seen in U.S. consumer prices, which fell for a third straight month in May, with underlying inflation weak. The
