Investing.com - U.S. stocks were knocked lower Tuesday, as Fed minutes revealed that the central bank does not see the need for additional monetary stimulus.
At the close of U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave back 0.49%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.42%, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.20%.
Stocks were slammed lower as the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes revealed that the central bank does not see the need for additional monetary easing despite global slowdown concerns.
Igniting the risk off flight, the Commerce Department reported U.S. factory orders climbed 1.3% in February, erasing the previous months downwardly revised 1.1% decline, but missed expectations for a 1.5% increase.
Stock investors are proceeding with caution prior to the Federal Reserve minutes, that may signal a third round of monetary easing to support growth.
Meanwhile, concerns over the economic outlook for the euro zone were increased after official data confirmed that the regions economy contracted by 0.3% in the final three months of 2011, unchanged from a preliminary estimate. Annualized gross domestic product contracted by 0.7% in the fourth quarter.
In addition, Monday’s data showed that manufacturing activity in the euro zone remained in contraction territory for the eighth successive month in March, while a separate report showed that the bloc’s unemployment rate ticked up to a record high of 10.8% in February.
Meanwhile in Spain, the number of people registering for jobless benefits increased by 38,769 marking the 8th straight monthly increase in the unemployment level.
In addition, the yield on Spanish 10 year bonds advanced 10 basis points to 5.45% while the nation’s debt will reach 79.8% of the GDP this year, up from 68.5% last year.
Banks led the decline with JP Morgan Chase giving back 2.4% and Morgan Stanley falling 2.6% on the Fed minutes.
General Motors plunged 5.3% after reporting sales gains that missed analysts estimates.
Apple advanced 1.5% after a Piper Jaffray analyst reported he expects the shares to rise to USD1000.00 per share by 2014.
At the close European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 1.69%, France's CAC 40 dropped 1.62%, while Germany’s DAX traded lower by 1.05%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 gave back 0.62%.
Traders are awaiting U.S. ISM and industry data on employment as well as German factory orders and the ECB interest rate announcement on Wednesday.