US stocks fall as Fed minutes show the central bank will likely taper bond purchases this year

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US stocks fall as Fed minutes show the central bank will likely taper bond purchases this year
A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York, U.S., January 24, 2020. Lucas Jackson/Reuters
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US stocks closed lower on Wednesday after the Fed's July meeting minutes revealed a general consensus that the central bank should begin tapering its monthly bond purchases by year-end.

The Fed began its bond buying purchase in response to the COVID-19 pandemic more than a year ago in an effort to stabilize credit markets to ensure the ability for a company to raise money via debt. But now, the economy and job growth has made enough progress and was the Fed's inflation goals are within reach, according to the minutes.

"Looking ahead, most participants noted that, provided that the economy were to evolve broadly as they anticipated, they judged that it could be appropriate to start reducing the pace of asset purchases this year," the minutes said.

The Fed remained divided on when exactly the Fed should taper, how much the Fed should taper each month, and when the Fed should begin to raise interest rates.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET close on Wednesday:

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Investment analyst Sean Bandazian of Cornerstone Wealth said volatility will hit markets no matter how transparent the Fed is with its bond tapering program and eventual rate hikes.

"Both the Fed and market participants learned lessons from the Taper Tantrum. While we expect less of a surprise this time around there is still reason to believe we will see volatility throughout areas of the market with high sensitivity to interest rates," Bandazian said.

The future of dogecoin could be getting a potential boost after ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin joined the token's foundation.

The Federal Reserve's Neel Kashkari said cryptocurrencies are 95% fraud, hype, and noise, and scoffed at the idea of creating his own "neelcoin."

BlackRock is unfazed by the recent regulatory crackdown in Beijing, with the investment giant recommending investors triple their allocations in Chinese assets, according to a FT report.

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Meanwhile, the regulatory carnage in China has led Taiwan Semiconductor to become Asia's most valuable company following the recent decline in Tencent.

Oil prices fell. West Texas Intermediate crude was down as much as 2.88%, to $64.67 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, dropped 1.97%, to $67.67 per barrel.

Gold fell as much as 0.02%, to $1,787.50 per ounce.

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