Stocks Closed Lower on Fed’s Stimulus Cut

U.S. stocks slide lower on Wednesday, as the Fed extends its taper program. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 189.77 points, or 1.19%, lower at 15,738.79. The S&P 500 finished the day down 18.30 points, or 1.02% at 1,774.20. The Nasdaq Composite lost 46.53 points, or 1.14%, to close at 4,051.43.

The Federal Reserve Wednesday took another gradual step toward exiting its controversial bond-buying program, remaining stoic in the face of market turmoil. As expected, the Fed decided to reduce the pace of monthly asset purchases to $65 billion, from January’s $75 billion.

Facebook Inc’s fourth-quarter revenue jumped 63 percent, beating Wall Street targets, as the Internet company’s mobile ad sales continued to accelerate. Overall revenue in the fourth quarter rose to $2.585 billion, compared with $1.585 billion in the year-ago period. Net income of $523 million, or 20 cents a share, versus $64 million or 3 cents a share in the year-ago period.

China’s Lenovo Group is nearing a deal to buy Google Inc’s Motorola handset division for close to $3 billion (1
billion pounds), people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

Chipmaker Qualcomm Inc (QCOM) posted higher fiscal first-quarter revenue that slightly missed expectations as smartphone growth shifted from developed economies to China. It reported first-quarter revenue of $6.62 billion, up 10 percent from the year-ago period. It had first-quarter net income of $1.88 billion, down 2 percent.