US bank officials row pushes Dow down

A two-day rally in the US stock market came to an end last night when an account of the Federal Reserve's last meeting revealed a split between American bank officials over how long it should keep buying bonds to support the economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 index trod water for much of the day, then slid into the red after the Fed released the minutes from its December meeting.