US markets end lower on Monday

31 Dec 2019 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Monday as investors reassessed the market’s string of recent records. There appeared to be no clear catalyst for the retracement, as upbeat news on an easing of US-China trade tensions continued to trickle in. Some cautiousness also prevailed in the markets on report that US military strikes in Iraq and Syria over the weekend. US forces conducted precision defensive strikes against five sites controlled by Kataeb Hezbollah, or Hezbollah Brigades, an Iran-backed Iraqi militia. The US has blamed the militia for a rocket barrage that killed a US defense contractor at a military compound near Kirkuk, in northern Iraq. Besides, trading activity was relatively subdued as some traders remained away from their desks ahead of the New Year's Day holiday on Wednesday.

On the economic data front, a report released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) showed pending home sales in the US rebounded in the month of November. NAR said its pending home sales index jumped 1.2 percent to 108.5 in November after falling by a revised 1.3 percent in October. Street had expected pending home sales to surge up by 1.1 percent. A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale. The report said pending home sales in the West spiked by 5.5 percent, while pending home sales in the Midwest climbed by 1.0 percent. On the other hand, pending home sales in the Northeast and South edged down by 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 183.12 points or 0.64 percent to 28462.14, Nasdaq declined 60.62 points or 0.67 percent to 8945.99 and S&P 500 was down by 18.73 points or 0.58 percent to 3221.29.

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