Wall Street drops on Fed economic projections
May 21st, 2009 - 6:03 am ICT by IANSNew York, May 21 (DPA) Stocks fell on Wall Street in the last hour of trading as the Federal Reserve issued dreary economic projections for the rest of the year.
The Federal Open Market Committee said it anticipated a fourth-quarter contraction in the gross domestic product (GDP) of up to two percent, a drastic drop from the 1.3 percent it had projected in January.
And it said unemployment could reach 9.6 percent during the fourth quarter, compared to initial projections of a maximum of 8.8 percent. Current unemployment is 8.9 percent, the highest since 1983.
The projections were contained in the minutes of the committee’s April 28-29 meeting, which were released Wednesday.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 52.81 points, or 0.6 percent, to 8,422.04. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index shed 4.66 points, or 0.5 percent, to 903.47. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index lost 6.70 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,727.84.
The US currency fell against the euro to 72.67 euro cents from 73.37 euro cents on Tuesday. The dollar also dropped against the Japanese currency to 94.88 yen from 96.10 yen.
- Markets in consolidation mode, Sensex down 46 points - May 21, 2009
- Oil rises on positive data - Mar 14, 2012
- US stocks climb, Dow briefly reaches positive 2010 - Mar 03, 2010
- US stocks end strong week on a high note - Nov 14, 2009
- US stocks up as earning season begins - Oct 09, 2009
- US stocks edge mixed (Lead) - Jan 25, 2012
- US stocks mixed - Jan 28, 2012
- US stocks mixed ahead of earnings reports - Oct 08, 2009
- Wall Street rises despite Euro zone concerns - Sep 14, 2011
- Tokyo stocks mixed in morning trading - Nov 25, 2009
- US stocks edge higher on Greece hopes (Lead) - Feb 09, 2012
- US stocks drop on disappointing earnings - Feb 04, 2010
- US stocks fall on stalled European economy - Feb 13, 2010
- Sensex recovers, closes 165 points up on value buying (Roundup) - Mar 23, 2012
- Indian markets rally for sixth straight week (Weekly market review) - Feb 12, 2012
Tags: blue chip, contraction, dow jones, dow jones industrial, dow jones industrial average, dpa, drastic drop, economic projections, federal open market committee, federal reserve, fourth quarter, gdp, gross domestic product, initial projections, japanese currency, nasdaq composite index, open market committee, s 500, us currency, yen
