Fed Minutes Spook Stocks

U.S. stocks closed lower on Wednesday after the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s policy setting meeting revealed little consensus about when short-term rates would begin to rise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 89.84 points, or 0.56%, at 16,040.56. The S&P 500 was down 12.01 points, or 0.65%, at 1,828.75. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 34.83 points, or 0.82%, to 4,237.95.

Members of the Federal Reserve’s policy-setting board agreed unanimously that the central bank should continue cutting the pace of asset purchases in ‘measured steps’ as long as the economy continues to grow as expected, according to minutes from the
January FOMC meeting.

Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA) reported late Wednesday a fourth-quarter net loss of $16.3 million, or 12 cents a share, narrowing a year-ago loss of $89.9 million, or 79 cents a share. The company swung to a profit of $45.9 million, or 33 cents a share. Revenue
for the quarter rose to $615.2 million from $306.3 million a year ago.

Google Inc. (GOOG) formally launched a new growth equity fund backed by the search-engine giant to invest in companies that are hitting their growth phase, according to the company’s blog. The fund’s focus will differ from Google Ventures, which is focused
on early-stage firms.