Wall Street Stocks Fall, FOMC Minutes Spark Speculation

<p>&nbsp;Market analysts closely watched the United States (US) stocks which were found to be falling and pushing the price of gold to the highest level for two weeks.</p><p><br /></p><p>In addition, the report of the minutes of the FOMC meeting published early this morning shows that the central bank is in a more cautious position.</p><p><br /></p><p>Monetary policy in the US will be kept on hold for the time being, but meeting members are still considering further policy tightening measures if the situation calls for it.</p><p><br /></p><p>The three major US stock indexes closed slightly lower with the Nasdaq down the most due to Nvidia's decision to forecast fourth-quarter results above target. Shares of Nvidia were slightly lower in the next trading session.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The S&amp;P 500 and Nasdaq both ended five straight trading days at the top.</p><p><br /></p><p>Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls &amp; Snyder believes that profits are likely to be overdue due to the sudden rally and many traders looking to take profits ahead of the holidays.</p><p><br /></p><p>Minutes of the FOMC meeting earlier last month revealed policymakers were grappling with conflicting signals and agreed to be more cautious with a target rate of 5.25% – 5.50%.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Fed also confirmed for policy to be maintained at this time and to watch inflation rates thereafter. Ghriskey believes the Fed will have to act if inflation continues to rise.</p><p><br /></p><p>From an economic point of view, sales of existing homes in the US declined to the lowest level in 13 years due to rising mortgage rates and low inventory causing many consumers to think twice before buying.</p>