Stocks Edged Lower on Fed Rate Hike Talk

U.S. stocks edged lower on Monday as investors weighed the possibility that U.S. interest rates could soon rise.  At close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 8.01 points, or 0.05%, to 17,492.93, the S&P 500 shed 4.28 points, or 0.21%, to 2,048.04 and the Nasdaq Composite slid 3.78 points, or 0.08%, to 4,765.78.

In the United States, an imminent rise in interest rates was looking more probable. The Federal Reserve will likely tighten policy a bit more quickly in 2017 than this year, by perhaps one or two more rate hikes, San Francisco Fed President John Williams said on Monday.

Bank of America Corp.’s decision to fight government allegations that it defrauded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac paid off as a federal appeals court threw out a judgment of almost $1.3 billion against the bank.

American Capital, a private equity firm and longtime player on the Washington financial scene, said Monday that it plans to sell itself for $4 billion over the next year, the latest in a string of local mid-market investment firms that have been acquired.