US markets settle lower on profit booking

14 Dec 2021 Evaluate

The US markets settled lower on Monday as traders cashed in on some of the strength seen in the markets last week. Further, weakness also prevailed in the markets as investors remained cautious about how the omicron variant will affect the economy and what the Federal Reserve will announce Wednesday. The Fed is expected to discuss accelerating the pace of tapering its asset purchase program, with reports suggesting the central bank could double the rate to $30 billion per month. Meanwhile, the new variant has pushed some government officials to reinstate health restrictions to slow the spread. As of Sunday, the US was approaching 800,000 coronavirus-related deaths. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that at least one patient infected with the omicron variant has died in the country.

On the sectoral front, oil service stocks saw substantial weakness on the day, resulting in a 4.6 percent nosedive by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index. The sell-off by oil service stocks came amid a decrease by the price of crude oil, as crude for January delivery fell $0.38 to $71.29 a barrel. Considerable weakness was also visible among airline stocks, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index tumbling by 3.2 percent. Semiconductor stocks also showed a significant move to the downside, dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 2.6 percent. Banking and computer hardware stocks also moved notably lower, while strength emerged among biotechnology, pharmaceutical and utilities stocks.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 320.04 points or 0.89 percent to 35,650.95, Nasdaq dropped 217.32 points or 1.39 percent to 15,413.28 and S&P 500 was down by 43.05 points or 0.91 percent to 4,668.97.

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