US markets end lower on Tuesday

08 Jan 2020 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Tuesday amid uncertainty about the impact of rising tensions between the US and Iran following the US airstrike that killed top Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani. Iran has vowed to take revenge against the US for the killing of Soleimani. However, losses remained capped on report that while traders generally seem optimistic that the war of words between Washington and Tehran will not escalate into a full-fledged military conflict, the uncertainty has kept buying interest in check. On the economic data front, a report released by the Commerce Department showed a pullback in new orders for US manufactured goods in the month of November. The Commerce Department said factory orders fell by 0.7 percent in November after inching up by a downwardly revised 0.2 percent in October. Street had expected orders to drop by 0.8 percent compared to the 0.3 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Besides, with exports rising and imports falling, the Commerce Department released a report showing the US trade deficit narrowed significantly in the month of November. The report said the trade deficit narrowed to $43.1 billion in November from a revised $46.9 billion in October. The trade deficit shrank to its smallest since hitting $42.0 billion in October 2016. Street had expected the deficit to narrow to $43.8 billion from the $47.2 billion originally reported for the previous month. The narrower trade deficit came as the value of exports climbed by 0.7 percent to $208.6 billion in November after edging down by 0.1 percent to $207.3 billion in October. Exports of drilling and oilfield equipment, civilian aircraft engines, jewelry and automotive vehicles and parts showed notable increases. Meanwhile, the report said the value of imports slumped by 1.0 percent to $251.7 billion in November after tumbling by 1.7 percent to $258.7 billion in October.

Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 119.70 points or 0.42 percent to 28583.68, Nasdaq declined 2.88 points or 0.03 percent to 9068.58 and S&P 500 was down by 9.10 points or 0.28 percent to 3237.18.


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