August 14, 2013- Stocks Close Lower Amid Fed Uncertainty

Reflecting the recent downward momentum on Wall Street, stocks have moved mostly lower on Wednesday despite a lack of major catalysts. Selling pressure has remained subdued, however, limiting the downside for the markets. The major averages currently remain stuck in negative territory but are off their worst levels of the day. The Dow is down 77.95 points or 0.5 percent at 15,373.06, the Nasdaq is down 8.77 points or 0.2 percent at 3,675.67 and the S&P 500 is down 5.99 points or 0.4 percent at 1,688.17. The modest weakness on Wall Street reflects lingering concerns about the outlook for the Federal Reserve's stimulus program. Many economists expect the Fed to begin scaling back its asset purchase program at its September meeting, which is now just over a month away. Traders are also digesting a report from the Labor Department showing that U.S. producer prices unexpectedly came in unchanged in the month of July. The Labor Department said its producer price index was unchanged in July following a 0.8 percent increase in June. Economists had been expecting the index to increase by about 0.3 percent.