US markets end lower amid concerns about a global slowdown

28 Mar 2019 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Wednesday on account of a notable drop by bond yields, which extended the downward trend seen over the past few sessions. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note ended the day at its lowest closing level since December of 2017. Bond yields have moved to the downside amid concerns about the economic outlook, with an inversion of the yield curve leading to worries about a potential recession. Eroding confidence in the economic outlook across the globe also compelled the Federal Reserve to lower domestic growth expectations for 2019 to 2.1% from 2.3% at its policy gathering earlier this month.

On the economic front, largely reflecting a steep drop in the value of imports, the Commerce Department released a report showing the US trade deficit narrowed by much more than anticipated in the month of January. The Commerce Department said the trade deficit narrowed to $51.1 billion in January from a revised $59.9 billion in December. Street had expected the deficit to shrink to $57.0 billion from the $59.8 billion originally reported for the previous month. In the previous month, the trade deficit increased to its highest level since reaching $60.2 billion in October of 2008. The narrower than expected deficit came as the value of imports tumbled by 2.6 percent to $258.5 billion in January after jumping by 2.1 percent to $265.3 billion in December. The value of crude oil imports showed a notable decrease along with imports of capital goods such as computer accessories, semiconductors, and civilian aircraft.

Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 32.14 points or 0.13 percent to 25625.59, Nasdaq declined 48.15 points or 0.63 percent to 7643.38 and S&P 500 was down by 13.09 points or 0.46 percent to 2805.37.

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