Wall Street Drops Back From Record Highs

Wall Street finished lower on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised concerns that the US economic recovery from the devastating effects of the pandemic faced a highly uncertain path.

In the minutes of the July Fed meeting, the policy committee said that the swift rebound in employment seen in May and June had likely slowed and that additional "substantial improvement" in the labour market would hinge on a "broad and sustained" reopening of business activity.

The Fed also ruled out for now more dovish monetary policy measures such as yield-curve control.

"The Fed was cautious in the minutes and has been over the last month," said Mike O’Rourke, chief market strategist, at Jones Trading. "I think the fact that the Fed was not too warm on the yield-curve control and some of the extreme measures investors may have liked to see was a concern."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.31 lower at 27,693, the S&P 500 lost 0.44 percent, to 3,375 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.57 percent, to 11,146.

Losses on Wall Street came after Apple became the first publicly listed US company to cross US$2 trillion in market capitalisation. Already the most valuable listed company in the world, the iPhone maker provided the biggest support to the three main indexes.

The company's stock was boosted by expectations of long-term success from the country's biggest tech names in a post-coronavirus world.

Strong results from retailers Target and Lowe's also lifted sentiment earlier in the session. (Reuters)