(CNBC) — U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday, a day after the S&P 500 rose to within 2 percent of its record, as Wall Street mulled the ramifications of the widely telegraphed ahead monetary-policy decision from the Federal Reserve.
As expected, the central bank announced an end to monthly bond purchases, known as quantitative easing, that helped fuel stock gains and increased the Fed's balance sheet to a record. The central bank kept its language on keeping interest rates low for a "considerable time" as it ended its two-day meeting, but dropped its "significant" wording in regards to slack in the U.S. labor market.
"I don't think it would be any surprise that they are ending QE; anybody who thinks that wasn't paying attention. The only real change is what they said about unemployment, and we get that news next week," said JJ Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade, referring to the October jobs report scheduled for release next Friday.
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