Dow, S&P fall 1% after Fed talks slowing asset purchases

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 fell more than 1% each at the final bell in New York after minutes from the Federal Reserve meeting last month revealed discussions about slowing its asset purchases in 2021.

The Dow Jones plummeted 382 points, or 1.08%, to close at 34,960 while the S&P 500 fell 47, or 1.07%, to 4,400. Both indexes ended in negative territory for the second day in a row despite a major comeback on Monday.

The Nasdaq was down 130, or 0.89%, to 14,525 as GameStop and Apple shed 4% and 2.5%, respectively. Oil majors Chevron and ExxonMobil lost more than 2% apiece amid falling prices.

Brent crude lost 2.2% to $67.51 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate dived 2.9% to $64.4 at 4.18 p.m. EDT.

The major sell-off came after the Fed's minutes from its July meeting revealed that officials discussed the $120 billion monthly asset purchase program.

"It could be appropriate to start reducing the pace of asset purchases this year," it said.

Although the Fed noted "inflation had increased generally more than expected this year,” the central bank still believes the increase "would prove to be transitory."

The VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, was up for the third day in a row, soaring 20.4% to 21.57.

The dollar index climbed 0.03% to 93.16, and the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes rose 1.1% to 1.272%.

Precious metals were in negative territory as gold fell less than 0.1% to $1,785 per ounce. Silver lost 0.8% to $23.46.