US markets closed lower on FOMC minutes

The US markets closed lower on Wednesday, as Fed minutes revealed scant little insights about the US central bank’s policy plans. A number of Federal Reserve officials pushed their colleagues to say more publicly about the pace of coming rate increases, according to minutes from the October meeting released, suggesting that the central bank still believes it is on track to raise rates next year despite low inflation and a weak global economic outlook. By a 9-1 vote, the Fed on October 29 ended its asset purchase program and repeated that rates are likely to stay near zero for a considerable time, adding language that the first move could come sooner if the economy surprises to the upside. The Fed expects rates to remain below what the Fed views as normal given the aftermath of the crisis. According to the minutes of the October 28-29 meeting, a couple of Fed officials think it is time to change this language. They see risks of keeping rates below their longer-run values for an extended period. And Fed officials agreed to take another crack at developing a consensus forecast. At the moment, each top Fed official presents his own forecast for the economy and the likely path of interest rates. On the economy front, construction started on new US homes fell 2.8% in October, led down by volatile apartment building. The annual rate of total housing starts declined to 1.01 million last month from 1.04 million in September. The October starts rate in buildings with at least five units dropped 15.5%. Meanwhile, construction starts for single-family homes rose 4.2% to hit the highest pace since November 2013. Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 2.09 points or 0.01 percent to 17,685.73, Nasdaq was down by 26.73 points or 0.57 percent to 4,675.71 while, S&P 500 ended lower by 3.08 points or 0.15 percent to 2,048.72.   The Indian ADRs closed mostly in red on Wednesday; Tata Motors was down 0.46%, HDFC Bank was down by 0.19% and Wipro was down 0.13%. On the other hand, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was up 0.53% and ICICI Bank was up 0.10%.