Major US stock indexes finished session on negative territory

The main US stock indices declined moderately, which was due to a further increase in fears about the growth of yield of government bonds.

The focus of investors' attention is also the protocol of the last meeting of the FOMC, which indicated that the Fed does not intend to raise interest rates at a higher rate. According to the document, the leaders of the Fed expect that rates will increase "gradually", while they are not too concerned about the possible overheating of the economy. Heads of the Central Bank in January, more highly estimated the potential growth rate of the US economy than in the December meeting.

Prior to the release of the minutes of the Fed meeting, some influence on the indices was provided by the US data. As it became known, in February in the US there was a noticeable improvement in the growth of business activity in the private sector of the economy. This was underscored by the growth of the seasonally adjusted preliminary composite PMI index from IHS Markit for the US to 55.9, compared to 53.8 in January, the highest since November 2015.

In addition, home sales in the US secondary market unexpectedly fell for the second month in a row in January, compounded by the constant deficit of houses, which pushes up prices and keeps primary home buyers out of the market. The National Association of Realtors said that home sales in the secondary market fell by 3.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual figure of 5.38 million units. The pace of sales in December was revised to 5.56 million units from previously registered 5.57 million units.

Most components of the DOW index finished the session in the red (26 of 30). Outsider were shares Walmart Inc. (WMT, -2.75%). The leader of growth was shares United Technologies Corporation (UTX, + 2.21%).

All sectors of the S & P index, except for the services sector (0.0%), recorded a drop. The utilities sector showed the greatest decrease (-1.2%).

At closing:

Dow -0.07% 24.947.47 -17.28

Nasdaq -0.22% 7.218.23 -16.08

S & P -0.55% 2,701.33 -14.93