US stocks close with losses after Fed minutes

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US stocks closed with losses Wednesday after the release of the Federal Reserve's minutes from its most recent two-day meeting that concluded on May 1.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down almost 202 points, or 0.51%, to finish at 39,671. The S&P 500 fell 14.4 points, or 0.27%, to end the day at 5,307.

The Nasdaq, meanwhile, decreased 31 points, or 0.18%, to close the session at 16,801.

The selloff in stocks came after the Fed minutes showed that members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) are concerned with a lack of further progress on inflation in recent months.

Some FOMC members, meanwhile, noted "a willingness" to further tighten monetary policy during the last meeting if "risks to inflation materialize," according to the minutes.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, jumped 3.5% to 12.27. The 10-year US Treasury yield rose 0.33% to 4.430%.

The dollar index added 0.26% to 104.94, while the euro shed 0.28% to register at $1.0823 against the greenback.

Precious metals reversed course and turned red, with gold falling 1.7% to $2,380 per ounce and silver plummeting 3.3% to $30.92.

Oil prices were down around 1.5%, with global benchmark Brent crude at $81.69 per barrel and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude at $77.34.