The sell-off in equity market has continued in mid-day trading, driven by a range of global political and economic factors. The decline in the U.S. equity market has been led by the Energy and the Basic Materials sector. The flight to safe assets has also given a boost to the U.S. dollar.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n All three major indexes have seen a broad decline, with the Dow Jones<\/a> currently down 1.46% to 11,015.52, the S&P 500<\/a> is currently down 1.53% to 1,179.51 and the Nasdaq is currently down 1.60% to 2,491.42.<\/p>\n Almost three weeks after announcing a $600 billion bond buying program to stimulate the U.S. economy, the Federal Reserve today released the minutes of its November 3 meeting. The minutes of the meeting show that the Federal Reserve looked at more drastic options to boost the U.S. economy before settling upon the $600 billion quantitative easing program. The Federal Reserve also revised downwards its forecast for economic growth and expects unemployment to be significantly higher than their previous expectations.<\/p>\n