- Title: USA: Wall Street dips with eyes on Fed, yields
- Date: 12th November 2013
- Summary: ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES (FILE) (REUTERS) U.S. AIRWAYS JET ON RUNWAY VARIOUS OF AMERICAN AIRLINES JETS ON RUNWAY
- Embargoed: 27th November 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Topics: Economy
- Reuters ID: LVA8C1XPGWQ7D7862Z4MTD2VFYLU
- Story Text: Wall Street dips after 2 days of gains; eyes on Fed's next move. US Airways, American Airlines to merge after settling antitrust suit.
The Dow and the S&P 500 declined on Tuesday (November 12) as rising bond yields fueled debate over how soon the Federal Reserve may begin trimming its stimulus program.
Comments from Fed officials offered diverging views and added to the uncertainty about the outlook for the Fed's easy-money policies. Among them, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher told CNBC that the Fed's program of buying $85 billion (USD) in bonds every month to stimulate the economy cannot continue forever.
The day's decline, which followed two days of gains and record high closes on the Dow, were led by financials, energy and utilities sectors. A 2.2 percent drop in U.S. oil futures hurting energy names like Chevron, which was down 0.9 percent at $120.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 32.43 points, or 0.21 percent, at 15,750.67. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 4.20 points, or 0.24 percent, at 1,767.69. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.13 points at 3,919.92.
Volume was lighter than usual for a second day, totaling about 5.8 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the NYSE MKT, below the five-day average closing volume of about 6.62 billion, according to BATS exchange data.
Among the day's more volatile stocks, US Airways Group Inc. gained 1.1. percent to close at $23.52, reversing earlier losses. The company and American Airlines agreed to give up landing spots and gates to low-cost carriers at several U.S. airports to win U.S. antitrust approval for their proposed merger.
US Airways Group Inc and American Airlines will give low-cost competitors more access to a half dozen key U.S. airports, including New York and Washington, D.C., in exchange for permission to merge and create the world's largest airline.
The agreement announced on Tuesday settles a government lawsuit filed in August that argued that US Airways and AMR Corp, parent of bankrupt American Airlines, should be forced to scrap the merger because it would hinder competition and lead to higher fares.
Stocks of several low-cost carriers rose. JetBlue Airways Corp jumped 6.1 percent to $8.16 and Southwest Airlines Co rose 1.2 percent to $18.03.
Also, lawyers for Apple and Samsung were in federal court in California on Tuesday to decide how much money Samsung will pay Apple for patent infringement.
In August 2012, a federal jury ruled Samsung infringed on several Apple patents for its smartphones and tablets.
According to Bloomberg, Apple is expected to seek more than $1 billion in damages. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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