US stock closes lower with Fed tapering uncertainty

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US stocks closed lower Wednesday with uncertainty about when the Federal Reserve would start reducing accumulating new assets on its balance sheet, or tapering.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 69 points, or 0.2%, to 35,031. The S&P 500 was down almost 6 points, or 0.13%, to 4,514.

The Nasdaq declined 87 points, or 0.57%, to 15,286 with Twitter and BlackBerry plummeting 4.2% and 4.1%, respectively.

The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes fell 2.4% to 1.338%, but the dollar index was up 0.2% to 92.70.

Despite an increase earlier, the VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, reversed course to settle in negative territory, falling 1% to 17.96 by the close of markets.

Oil prices recovered 1.4% with Brent crude trading at $72.68 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate was at $69.38.

Precious metals, on the other hand, were down again with gold falling to $1,789 per ounce with a 0.25% decline, and silver losing 1.4% to $23.96.

For the next two weeks, investors will be closely watching hints from Federal Reserve officials who remain divided about tapering before the Fed's next meeting on Sept. 21-22.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said he supports tapering later this year and end sometime in the first half of 2022.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams, however, said he wants to see more improvement and "substantial further progress" before the Fed begins unwinding its $120 billion monthly asset purchase program.