US markets end lower on profit booking

03 Mar 2021 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Tuesday as traders cashed in on the strong gains posted during trading on Monday. The weakness on the day came despite a continued decrease by the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moved lower for the third straight session. The 10-year Treasury yield, a point of focus lately for equity investors, dipped below 1.41%. The benchmark rate appeared to be stabilizing this week after surging to a high of 1.6% last week, which eased some of the fears about higher borrowing costs and inflation.

Further, markets fell led by technology names, Apple and Facebook fell about more than 2% each. Amazon and Microsoft both slipped 1%, while Tesla dropped 4.5%. Tech and consumer discretionary were the two worst-performing sectors, falling more than 1% each.  However, downside remained capped as President Joe Biden said that Merck will help make Johnson & Johnson’s single shot Covid vaccine as the country tries to ramp up supply. Economically sensitive cyclical sectors have outperformed the broader market this year amid optimism about vaccines and economic resurgence. Energy and financials have risen 28% and 12%, respectively, year to date.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 143.99 points or 0.46 percent to 31,391.52, Nasdaq dropped 230.04 points or 1.69 percent to 13,358.79 and S&P 500 was down by 31.53 points or 0.81 percent to 3,870.29.

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