Stocks End Lower after Fed Minutes

U.S. stocks closed mostly lower on Wednesday after Federal Reserve meeting minutes showed that a majority of officials judged the efficacy of the central bank’s bond purchases was likely declining over time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 68.20 points, or 0.41%, to 16,462.74. The S&P 500 was down 0.39 point, or 0.02%, to 1,837.49. The Nasdaq Composite rose 12.43 points, or 0.30%, to end at 4,165.61.

Minutes of the Fed’s December 17-18 policy meeting, released on Wednesday, showed many members of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee wanted to proceed with caution in trimming the asset purchases, and most wanted to stress that further reductions were not on a preset course.

Macy’s Inc. (M) said on Wednesday that it plans to cut 2500 jobs and shut five underperforming stores. Separately, Macy’s also
reported holiday same-store sales in November and December rose 3.6% and were up 4.3% when factoring in departments licensed to third parties.

U.S. consumer credit in November increased by the smallest amount in seven months as credit card usage slowed sharply, a sign that households were continuing to work through their debt load.

Riverbed Technology Inc. received a buyout offer from activist fund manager Elliott Associates LP, valuing the computer-networking company at more than $3 billion.