US Stocks End Mixed Amid Surging Dollar

New York (PNA/Xinhua) — U.S. stocks closed mixed Thursday amid a strong rebound in the U.S. dollar, as investors were still digesting Wednesday’s statement from the Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 117.16 points, or 0.65 percent, to 17,959.03. The S&P 500 lost 10.23 points, or 0.49 percent, to 2,089.27. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 9.55 points, or 0.19 percent, to 4,992.38.

U.S. stocks swung sharply to gains Wednesday following the statement, as investors were relieved by Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s dovish outlook.

In its statement on monetary policy Wednesday, the Fed dropped its promise to remain “patient” before raising interest rates. However, “Just because we’re not using the word ‘patient’ doesn’t mean we’re going to be impatient,” said Yellen at a press conference following the statement’s release.

Moreover, the Fed said it will “be appropriate” to raise interest rates when it has seen further improvement in the labor market and is “reasonably confident” that inflation will move back to its target of 2 percent in the medium term.

Analysts said the Fed could afford to be patient in deciding when to raise interest rates as labor force participation rate was lower than expected and wage growth remained sluggish, although the unemployment rate had fallen to an almost seven-year low of 5.5 percent in February.

The U.S. dollar bounced back sharply on Thursday after its biggest slide since 2009 following the Fed statement on Wednesday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 1.55 percent during the prior session. The greenback pared most of its losses on Thursday with the dollar index up 0.88 percent at 99.415 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro decreased to USD1.0638 from USD1.0744 in the previous session, while the dollar bought 120.96 Japanese yen, higher than 120.69 yen of the previous session.

On the economic front, in the week ending March 14, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 291,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised level, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.

Apple officially began trading as a member of the Dow Thursday, replacing AT&T in the index. Its shares fell 0.76 percent to USD127.50 apiece.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street’s fear gauge, edged up 0.72 percent to end at 14.07 Thursday.

In other markets, oil prices retreated Thursday as the U.S. dollars rebounded strongly.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery lost USD0.7 to settle at USD43.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for May delivery moved down USD1.48 to close at USD54.43 a barrel.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange jumped on Thursday after the Fed took a cautious tone towards raising interest rates.

The most active gold contract for April delivery rose USD17.7, or 1.54 percent, to settle at USD1,169.00 per ounce. (PNA/Xinhua) FFC/EBP