US markets end mostly lower on Monday

23 Nov 2021 Evaluate

The US markets ended mostly lower on Monday, reversing an earlier rally that came after President Joe Biden announced he would nominate Chairman Jerome Powell to continue to lead the Federal Reserve, rather than nominating Fed governor Lael Brainard for the post. The move to reappoint Powell assuaged investors worried about switching central bank chiefs while the country’s economy is trying to emerge from the Covid pandemic and battle inflation levels not seen in three decades. Meanwhile, covid-19 news also weighed on market sentiment, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that the country was seeing a spike of the virus.

On the sectoral front, Software stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the session, dragging the Dow Jones US Software Index down by 2 percent. The index ended last Friday's trading at a record closing high. Considerable weakness was also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 1.7 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The weakness among gold stocks came amid a substantial decline in the price of the precious metal, with gold for December delivery plummeting $45.30 to $1,806.30 an ounce. Semiconductor and retail stocks also showed significant moves to the downside on the day, while strength remained visible among steel, telecom and banking stocks.

Nasdaq fell 202.68 points or 1.26 percent to 15,854.76 and S&P 500 was down by 15.02 points or 0.32 percent to 4,682.94, while Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 17.27 points or 0.05 percent to 35,619.25. 

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