US markets end lower on Tuesday

23 Oct 2019 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Tuesday as traders digested the latest batch of earnings reports. Shares of McDonald’s (MCD) came under pressure after the fast food giant reported third quarter results that missed Street estimates on both the top and bottom lines. Delivery giant UPS (UPS) also saw notable weakness after reporting third quarter earnings that beat expectations but on weaker than expected sales. Besides, some cautiousness also prevailed in the markets amid renewed uncertainty about Brexit after UK lawmakers voted to move forward with legislation related to Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union but then voted against a shortened time frame to review the bill.  Members of Parliament narrowly voted against the limited time frame, which would have provided just three days to evaluate the legislation. The vote suggests lawmakers will not meet an October 31 deadline, setting the stage for another extension by the EU to avoid a no-deal Brexit.

On the economic front, after reporting an unexpected jump in existing home sales in the previous month, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released a report showing existing home sales pulled back by much more than anticipated in the month of September. NAR said existing home sales plunged by 2.2 percent to an annual rate of 5.38 million in September after jumping by 1.5 percent to an upwardly revised 5.50 million in August. Street had expected existing home sales to drop by 0.7 percent to a rate of 5.45 million from the 5.49 million originally reported for the previous month. Despite the monthly pullback, the report said existing home sales in September were up by 3.9 percent compared to the same month a year ago.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 39.54 points or 0.15 percent to 26788.10, Nasdaq declined 58.69 points or 0.72 percent to 8104.29 and S&P 500 was down by 10.73 points or 0.36 percent to 2995.99.

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