(By Balachander) U.S. stocks ended in red after the minutes of the last Federal Reserve policy meeting offered little indication towards more quantitative easing.
S&P 500 Index closed flat at 1,341.45. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.38 percent to end at 12,604.53. The Nasdaq Composite Index retreated 0.49 percent to finish at 2,887.98.
"A few members expressed the view that further policy stimulus likely would be necessary to promote satisfactory growth in employment and to ensure that the inflation rate would be at the Committee's goal," according to the minutes of the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting. Fed Committee is prepared to take further action as appropriate to promote a stronger economic recovery.
Meanwhile, a report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed that trade deficit for May narrowed to $48.7 billion from $50.6 billion in April, yet came slightly wider than economists expectations of $48.5 billion.
Hot Stocks Of The Day: GG, NAV, GRPN, WM, HGG, ADTN, OCZ, VOXX
In corporate news, Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE:GG) slumped 9.74 percent after the Canadian gold producer reduced its production forecast for the full year, citing operational issues at mines in Ontario and in Mexico.
Navistar International Corp. (NYSE:NAV) added 4.78 percent activist hedge fund MHR Fund Management boosted his stake in the truck maker to almost 15 percent from 13.6 percent. Activist investor Carl Icahn increased his stake in Navistar to 11.9 percent last month.
ADTRAN Inc. (NASDAQ:ADTN) plunged 15.37 percent after the provider of networking and communications equipment posted an unexpected drop in sales for the second quarter.
Waste Management Inc. (NYSE:WM) retreated 4.51 percent. Morgan Stanley downgraded its rating on the stock to "Underweight" from "Equal-weight".
Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN) shed 6.50 percent. Though the reasons behind the latest sell-off appears unclear, the stock has plunged 60 percent since the online marketplace's initial public offering.
VOXX International Corp. (NASDAQ:VOXX) tumbled 17.71 percent after the Hauppauge, New York-based distributor of electronics products reported a quarterly loss due to patent litigation settlement charges and acquisition costs.
hhgregg Inc. (NYSE:HGG) plummetted 36.40 percent after the electronics retailer cut its fiscal 2013 earnings outlook and guided first quarter below Wall Street view, citing continued headwinds in the video industry. Consumer electronics giant Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE:BBY) dropped 8.37 percent.
OCZ Technology Group Inc. (NASDAQ:OCZ) lost 17.43 percent after the data-storage company's quarterly results missed market expectations.
Chubb Corp. (NYSE:CB) declined 1.13 percent after the Warren, New Jersey-based property and casualty insurer estimates up to $240 million in catastrophe losses during the second quarter.
Global Markets:
European markets closed on a mixed note, with Germany's DAX adding 0.24 percent to close at 6,453.85. France's CAC40 shed 0.57 percent to finish at 3,157.25. U.K.'s FTSE 100 inched up 0.01 percent to end at 5,664.48.
Among Asian markets, China's Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index advanced 0.56 percent to close at 2,176.49. Japan's Nikkei 225 dipped 0.08 percent to end at 8,851.00. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.12 percent to end at 19,419.87. India's BSE Sensex finished at 17,489.14, down 0.73 percent.
Commodity & Currency Scan:
Crude oil futures rallied 2.55 percent to $86.05 per barrel and natural gas futures gained 4.20 percent to $2.852 per million metric British thermal units. Gold futures fell 0.37 percent to $1,574.00 per ounce and silver futures added 0.44 percent to $27.000 per ounce.
In the currency market, the euro dipped 0.05 percent against the U.S. dollar to 1.2244. The British pound edged 0.10 percent lower against the greenback to 1.5504, and the dollar gained 0.30 percent against the Japanese yen to 79.6700.