The US markets closed lower on Tuesday, as persistent slump in oil prices put pressure on energy shares, while investors were also making guarded moves as the Federal Reserve’s two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting got underway. The FOMC meeting kicked off early Tuesday, with the market seeing a 93% probability that the Fed will vote for an interest-rate increase, according to data from the CME Group. The US central bank’s statement and new economic projections would be released late Wednesday, followed by a news conference hosted by Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen. The FOMC’s policy statement will be examined for signals about the timing and pace of future interest-rate hikes. On the economy front, small-business owner optimism dipped in February but stayed near long-time highs, as owners remain hopeful about more business-friendly policy from Washington. The sentiment gauge from the National Federation of Independent Business fell 0.6 points to 105.3. NFIB’s survey notched the biggest surge in its four-decade history in December following the presidential election. It rose again in January, defying expectations for a correction. In February, only three of 10 survey components increased. Nearly one-third reported having job openings they could not fill, a recovery high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 44.11 points or 0.21 percent to 20,837.37, the Nasdaq was down 18.96 points or 0.32 percent to 5,856.82, while S&P 500 dropped 8.02 points or 0.34 percent to 2,365.45.
The Indian ADRs closed mostly in green; Tata Motors was up 1.47%, HDFC Bank was up 1.03%, ICICI Bank was up 0.32% and Infosys was up 0.31%. On the other hand, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was down 1.96%.