The US markets ended a choppy session lower on Monday, as traders appeared to book profits after last week’s rally. Investors awaited the start of corporate earnings season to assess the strength of the economy. The Federal Open Market Committee will also release minutes from its September 16-17 meeting on October 8. On the economy front, the Federal Reserve’s new labor-market conditions index rose to a reading of 2.5 in September, from 2 in August. This marks the first scheduled release of the indicator, which combines 19 labor market variables into one. That marks the second-lowest level of the year, an indication of slow momentum in the jobs market over the month. Since the index turned positive in 2009, the labor markets condition index has averaged 4.77.
Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 17.78 points or 0.10 percent to 16,991.91, Nasdaq was down by 20.82 points or 0.47 percent to 4,454.80, while S&P 500 ended lower by 3.08 points or 0.16 percent to 1,964.82.
The Indian ADRs closed mostly in green on Thursday; HDFC Bank was up by 0.97%, Infosys was up by 0.93% and ICICI Bank was up 0.50%. On the other hand, Tata Motors was down by 0.87% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.13%.