US markets end mostly lower on Monday

03 Aug 2021 Evaluate

The US markets ended mostly lower on Monday after a report from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) showed an unexpected slowdown in the pace of growth in US manufacturing activity in the month of July. The ISM said its manufacturing PMI dipped to 59.5 in July from 60.6 in June. While a reading above 50 still indicates growth in the manufacturing sector, street had expected the index to inch up to 60.9. Meanwhile, a report released by the Commerce Department showed a modest increase in US construction spending in the month of June. The Commerce Department construction spending crept up by 0.1 percent to an annual rate of $1.552 trillion in June after edging down by 0.2 percent to a revised rate of $1.551 trillion in May. Street had expected construction spending to increase by 0.4 percent compared to the 0.3 percent dip originally reported for the previous month.

However, the early strength on markets partly reflected recent upward momentum, which has helped lift stocks to new record highs despite concerns about the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus. Traders remained optimistic about the outlook for the economy amid indications the Federal Reserve is not in a hurry to begin scaling back stimulus. Positive sentiment have also been generated after a bipartisan group of Senators unveiled a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure package.

Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 97.31 points or 0.28 percent to 34,838.16 and S&P 500 was down by 8.1 points or 0.18 percent to 4,387.16, while Nasdaq rose 8.39 points or 0.06 percent to 14,681.07.

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