U.S. stocks fall, on pace to close out October on a down note
Investing.com — U.S. stocks are falling to close the month of October on a down note, with the major indexes on pace to notch monthly declines.
At 10:48 ET (14:48 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 34 points or 0.3%, while the S&P 500 was flat, and the NASDAQ Composite fell 0.2%.
The main indices on Wall Street all closed over 1% higher on Monday, with the blue chip Dow gaining over 500 points, or 1.6%, in its best trading day since early June.
However, despite these gains, the major averages are on course to post their third straight month in the red, with both the S&P and the Nasdaq on course for their worst October since 2018.
Investors have been fretting that a resilient economy would mean that the Federal Reserve keeps interest rates at elevated levels for longer than previously expected.
The U.S. central bank starts its latest two-day policy meeting later in the session, and investors widely expect the Fed will hold rates steady when it announces its decision on Wednesday.
Investors will be closely listening to what Chair Jerome Powell says during the afternoon press conference for clues about the next few months, as the Fed could keep the option open of raising rates one more time this year as it continues to fight inflation in the wake of stronger than expected data on economic growth.
The latest consumer confidence reading for this month of 102.6 beat expectations for a reading of 100 but was down slightly from the prior reading. Investors continue to be buoyed by a retreat in the 10-year benchmark bond yield after the U.S. Treasury issued on Monday a more modest year-end schedule of Treasury debt sales than many feared.
In terms of overseas news, the Bank of Japan maintained its very dovish stance,
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