NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market posted its biggest loss this year on news that Federal Reserve officials suggested the central bank scale back its effort to keep borrowing costs low.
Minutes from the Fed's January meeting seemed to catch investors by surprise when they were released at 2 p.m. EST. Several Fed policymakers worried that the bank's program of buying $85 billion of bonds each month could eventually unsettle financial markets or cause the bank to take losses. Even so, most of the Fed officials thought the economy faced fewer risks than in December.
Judging by the market's reaction, the Fed appears to be closer to ending its support for the economy than traders had expected, said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at the brokerage BTIG. "We're at a point now where we're discussing how we're going to end this, not whether it's going to end," he said.
The S&P 500 index sank 18.99 points to 1,511.95, a loss off 1.2 percent. That's the biggest one-day drop since Nov. 14, 2012.
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