Stocks fell Tuesday as investors became increasingly concerned about the potential impacts of the Federal Reserve’s stimulus plans announced last week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 60.09 points, or 0.53%, to 11346.75. Bank of America was the measure’s weakest performer, off 33 cents, or 2.6%, to $12.27. Despite its plans to sell 25% more shares of BlackRock than it intended, the banking giant at this point remains short of the amount of capital it is supposed to have raised by a year-end deadline.
Chevron also weighed on the Dow with a drop of 1.24, or 1.5%, to 83.56 after the energy giant agreed to pay $3.2 billion in cash and assume $1.1 billion in debt to purchase Atlas Energy. Atlas shareholders will receive $38.25 a share in cash, a premium of 21% over its Monday closing price. Shares of Atlas, which isn’t a Dow component, surged 10.78, or 34%, to 42.50.
The Nasdaq Composite lost 17.07, or 0.66%, to 2562.98. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index shed 9.85, or 0.81%, to 1213.40.
By Jonathan Cheng And Min Zeng
Stocks saw a late surge collapse as investors reassessed Federal Reserve moves to try and support an increasingly wobbly economic recovery.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 54.50 points, or 0.51%, at 10644.25 after surging after the Fed announcement to erase the majority of its earlier triple-digit loss. Treasurys jumped, while the U.S. dollar plunged, shaving off a day of strong gains.
At the end of their one-day policy meeting, Fed officials said they would reinvest the proceeds from expiring agency debt and mortgage-backed securities into Treasurys, to keep long-term borrowing costs for businesses and consumers low. The U.S. central bank also acknowledged that the pace of the recovery had slowed in recent months.
“The Fed is still very concerned about this economy, as we all are,” said Randy Bateman, president and chief investment officer for Huntington Asset Advisors.