US stocks dip as Fed ends stimulus programme

New York - Wall Street stocks finished lower on Wednesday after the US Federal Reserve ended its quantitative easing stimulus program, but said it would continue to keep its benchmark interest rate low.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 31.44 points (0.18%) to 16 974.31.

The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 2.75 (0.14%) to 1 982.30, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 15.07 (0.33%) to 4 549.23.

The Fed, as expected, declared the end of six years of asset purchases to shore up economic growth.

The Fed also said it would not raise interest rates for "a considerable time" after the end of the QE programme, sticking to its timetable of an increase well into 2015.

The Fed's policy statement cited improving labor market conditions and expressed little concern about low inflation, elements that led some analysts to characterise it as more hawkish than expected.

"The Fed is positioning itself, but it hasn't take the decision" to raise rates, said Gregori Volokhine, president of Meeschaert Capital Markets.

"It's action still depends on how the economy performs."

Facebook tumbled 6.1% after chief executive Mark Zuckerberg pledged to keep "investing aggressively" in growth, a statement that raised concerns about excessive spending. The company's third-quarter net income soared to $806m from $425m last year.

Bank of America rose 1.1% after chief executive Brian Moynihan told Bloomberg News that legal costs stemming from the housing bust are mostly behind the banking giant.

Goodyear jumped 5.1% after the tiremaker reported third-quarter earnings of 87 cents per share, 17c above analyst estimates.

Biotechnology company Gilead Sciences dropped 2.4% as its $2.8bn in third-quarter sales of its Sovaldi hepatitis C treatment fell short of a $3.05bn analyst forecast.

Chocolate maker Hershey lost 1.5% after it lowered its profit forecast, citing macroeconomic weakness and the effect of the strong dollar. The company now projects 2014 adjusted earnings per share growth of around 8%, down from the 9% to 11% previously forecast.

Bonds were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.32% from 2.28% on Tuesday, while the 30-year dipped to 3.05% from 3.06%.