Shares of industrial and transportation companies fell after the U.S. central bank's latest meeting minutes.
Federal Reserve officials meeting in December agreed that the rate-increase cycle that started in 2022 was likely at an end, according to minutes of the meeting.
They pointed to the easing of inflation, particularly six-month annualized rates of inflation as well as signs that supply chains were returning to normal and that the labor market was starting to loosen up as more people joined the workforce.
Fed policymakers also concurred that it would remain appropriate to keep policy restrictive for some time, however.
The Institute for Supply Management's index of U.S. manufacturing activity rose by 0.7 percentage point to 47.4 in December, indicating factory operators' perceptions of activity improved slightly.
Still, the index remained in contractionary territory for the 14th straight month. Airbus is in talks to buy Atos's cybersecurity unit, with an indicative offer that values the business at up to $1.97 billion, including debt.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-03-24 1722ET
