Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Thursday 10 augusT 2017
A25

Fed official eyes US stocks dip lower, trimming earlier losses
September for

bond reductions ing global market indexes
lower.
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER On Tuesday, President Don-
AP Economics Writer ald Trump warned North
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Korea of “fire and fury” in
member of the Federal response to recent threats
Reserve’s interest-setting from Pyongyang, which
committee said Wednes- said it was examining plans
day it would be appropri- for attacking Guam, a U.S.
ate for the central bank to territory in the Pacific with a
announce next month that military base. Trump’s com-
it will begin trimming its $4.5 ments followed reports that
trillion balance sheet, but the North has mastered
wait until December be- a technology needed to
fore raising a key interest strike the United States with
rate again. a nuclear missile.
Charles Evans, the presi- Investors reacted by driv-
dent of the Fed’s regional ing up the price of gold
bank in Chicago, said he and bonds, traditional
does not expect the bal- safe-haven plays. But the
ance sheet reduction to moves were modest.
make much of a market Gold added $16.70, or
impact because the move Trader Edward Curran works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. U.S. stocks closed 1.3 percent, to settle at
has been “well-choreo- slightly lower Wednesday, making up much of the ground they lost earlier following a rare batch $1,279.30 an ounce.
of earnings disappointments by Walt Disney and other big companies.
graphed.” (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Bond prices rose. The yield
Speaking to a group of re- on the 10-year Treasury
porters, Evans added that By ALEX VEIGA calating tensions between average slid 36.64 points, note slipped to 2.25 per-
he believes waiting until AP Business Writer the U.S. and North Korea or 0.2 percent, to 22,048.70. cent from 2.26 percent late
December to raise rates U.S. stocks closed slightly had weighed on stocks Earlier, the average had Tuesday. While the tough
would give the Fed time lower Wednesday, mak- earlier in the day, push- been down more than 88 talk about the potential for
to assess whether inflation ing up much of the ground ing gold and bond prices points. war is scary, investors have
is moving back toward the they lost earlier following slightly higher. But by the The Nasdaq composite lost heard it many times be-
Fed’s 2 percent annual tar- a rare batch of earnings end of the day, traders ap- 18.13 points, or 0.3 percent, fore. “North Korea was fod-
get. disappointments by Walt peared to take the geopo- to 6,352.33. The Russell 2000 der for the overnight trade,
Evans joked that he would Disney and other big com- litical drama in stride. index of smaller-compa- and as we headed into to-
like to see inflation rise panies. “Right now the market is ny stocks gave up 13.20 day we haven’t seen any
above the Fed’s 2 percent Consumer-focused stocks, viewing it as a lot of saber- points, or 0.9 percent, to more saber-rattling,” said
target “at some point in my media companies and rattling and a lot of smoke, 1,396.95. That’s the index’s JJ Kinahan, chief market
Fed career.” Evans, who banks accounted for much but not much fire,” said lowest level in two months. strategist at TD Ameritrade.
has a vote on the Fed’s of the market decline. They Darrell Cronk, president of The stage was set for the “I would expect the mar-
9-member policy commit- outweighed gains in health Wells Fargo Investment In- U.S. indexes to go lower kets to react again pretty
tee this year, is viewed as a care stocks and elsewhere. stitute. early Wednesday as in- negatively to any more
leading “dove” — a group Small-company stocks fell The Standard & Poor’s 500 vestors around the world tough talk from either side,
of Fed officials who believe more than the rest of the index slipped 0.90 points, or reacted to the rising war but for now, everybody
it is important to push un- market. 0.04 percent, to 2,474.02. of words between the U.S. seems to have settled
employment as low as pos- Investors’ unease over es- The Dow Jones industrial and North Korea, push- down, and we’ll see what
sible as long as inflation re- happens.” q
mains under control.
The Fed’s two goals are to Mylan, like other generic drugmakers, feels the pain
pursue interest-rate poli-
cies that foster maximum vative view going forward seeking, according to a
employment and price because of “ongoing chal- survey by Zacks Investment
stability. lenges and the uncertain Research.
The central bank has suc- U.S. regulatory environ- Revenue surged 15.6 per-
ceeded on the employ- ment.” cent to $2.96 billion on
ment front with the jobless Shares tumbled 5 percent higher sales in Europe,
rate now at a 16-year low and were trading close to largely due to products
of 4.3 percent, four-year lows at the open- now owned by Mylan after
but it has had trouble lifting ing bell Wednesday. its buyout of the Swedish
prices to what it considers The generic drugmaker, drugmaker, Meda. How-
an optimal rate of 2 per- which is incorporated in ever, that too was short of
cent annual increases. the United Kingdom but analyst expectations.
In fact this year, the Fed’s has its U.S. headquarters Mylan and its rivals that
preferred measure of in- outside of Pittsburgh, said make generic drugs have
flation has been back- This photo shows an EpiPen epinephrine auto-injector, a profit surged 76 percent to been under pressure be-
tracking, dropping to a Mylan product, in Hendersonville, Texas. Mylan reported $297 million, or 55 cents per cause of falling prices.
12-month increase of 1.4 earnings Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2017. share. Mylan is also dealing with
percent in June, below the (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski) Earnings, adjusted for non- a decline in sales for its
2.2 percent 12-month gain recurring costs, came to EpiPen Auto-Injector, fol-
the inflation gauge had hit NEW YORK (AP) — Mylan’s much as Wall Street had $1.10 per share, well below lowing a decision to start
in February.q second-quarter profit and expected and the compa- the per-share estimates of selling a lower-priced ge-
revenue surged, but not as ny is taking a more conser- $1.18 that Wall Street was neric version. q