Wall Street Stocks Fall Again After Fed Minutes

Stocks accelerated their declines late in the session, pushing the S&P 500 down about 1.8 percent from its record closing high after its second straight daily drop.

Most S&P 500 sectors ended lower, with energy falling 2.4 percent and healthcare off 1.5 percent.

The minutes of the July 27-28 Fed meeting showed different groups worried about inflation and the need to prepare to combat it, with others saying it would take time, and require patience from the Fed, to put Americans back to work.

Investors are looking for signs about when the central bank will rein in its easy money policies, including tapering its bond-buying program, which have been a crucial support as the S&P 500 has roughly doubled from its March 2020 low.

"The Fed minutes did nothing to dispel the thought that tapering will begin soon," said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia. "We are closer to the end than the middle of tapering, and people don’t know how to react to it."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.08 percent to 34,961, the S&P 500 lost 1.07 percent to 4,400 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.89 percent to 14,526.

Focus now shifts to the Fed's annual research conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, next week for any read about the central bank's next steps. Many analysts expect the Fed to announce its plan to taper asset purchases as early as the September 21-22 policy meeting. (Reuters)