The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 12.94 points Wednesday to close at 12.824.39 after the Fed said it would extend “Operation Twist,” but offered little else to assuage the concerns of anxious investors.
The Nasdaq inched up 0.69 points to end at 2,930.45 while the S&P 500 dipped 2.29 points to finish at 1,355.69.
The Fed's Open Market Committee said it would extend “Operation Twist,” a balance sheet-neutral operation in which the central bank sells short-dated notes and buys longer-term debt, for another $267 billion.
Some analysts and investors view the extension as another sign that the Fed might eventually initiate a third round of quantitative easing, but investors clearly weren’t as optimistic.
Here are some more details from Wednesday’s trading session:
Dow Jones Industrial Average:
- Down two of the past three trading days.
- An intraday high of 12877.18 occurred at 13:08:52 today, representing an increase of 39.85 points, or 0.31%.
- An intraday low of 12744.92 occurred at 12:33:38 today, representing a decrease of 92.41 points, or 0.72%.
- Sixteen of the 30 component stocks rose, 14 fell.
- Today's top five contributors to The Dow's movement and their point contribution: JPM (8.10), WMT (5.37), AXP (3.78), XOM (3.71), TRV (3.03).
- Today's bottom five laggards: PG (-13.77), CAT (-12.64), MCD (-7.19), UTX (-3.71), VZ (-3.25).
- Down 9.46% from its record close of 14164.53 on October 09, 2007.
- Up 95.88% from its 12-year closing low of 6547.05 on March 9, 2009.
- Up 5.90% from 52 weeks ago.
- Up 5.97% from its 2012 closing low of 12101.46 on June 04, 2012.
- Down 3.43% from its 52-week high of 13279.32 on May 01, 2012.
- Up 20.36% from its 52-week low of 10655.30 on October 03, 2011.
- Month-to-date: up 3.48%.
- Year-to-date: up 4.97%.
- DJIA crossed zero 48 times during today's trading session.
Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index:
14021.24, down 23.35 points, or 0.17%, or approximately $25.4 billion in market capitalization
- Today’s drop snaps a four-day up streak.
- Largest one-day points and percentage decline since June 13, 2012.
- Down 10.95% % (approximately $2.9 trillion in market cap), from its record close of 15745.39 on October 09, 2007.
- Up 106.19% (approximately $8.3 trillion in market cap), from the 12-½ year closing low of 6800.08 on March 9, 2009.
- Up 4.01% from 52 weeks ago.
- Up 6.17% from its 2012 closing low of 13206.64 on January 04, 2012.
- Down 4.88% from its 52-week high of 14740.15 on April 02, 2012.
- Up 24.09% from its 52-week low of 11299.07 on October 03, 2011.
- Month-to-date: up 3.20%, or approximately $513 billion in market cap.
- Year-to-date: up 7.70%, or approximately $1.1 trillion in market cap.
Data courtesy of Dow Jones Indexes.
