US markets end lower on Thursday

07 Jan 2022 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Thursday, following the sell-off seen in the previous session, on uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets. Sentiments were cautious as the US trade deficit widened significantly in the month of November, according to a report released by the Commerce Department. The report said the trade deficit widened to $80.2 billion in November from a revised $67.2 billion in October. Street had expected the deficit to widen to $77.1 billion from the $67.1 billion originally reported for the previous month. The wider than expected trade deficit came as the value of imports spiked by 4.6 percent to $304.4 billion in November after jumping by 1 percent to $291.0 billion in October.

Meanwhile, after reporting US service sector growth at a record high in the previous month, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released a report showing a notable slowdown in the pace of growth in the sector in the month of December. The ISM said its services PMI slid to 62.0 in December from 69.1 in November, although a reading above 50 still indicates growth. Street had expected the index to drop to 66.9. The pullback by the headline index came as the new orders index tumbled to 61.5 in December from 69.7 in November and the business activity index slumped to 67.6 from 74.6 in the previous month. The employment index also dipped to 54.9 in December from 56.5 in November, indicating a modest slowdown in the pace of job growth in the service sector.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 170.64 points or 0.47 percent to 36,236.47, Nasdaq dropped 19.31 points or 0.13 percent to 15,080.87 and S&P 500 was down by 4.53 points or 0.1 percent to 4,696.05.

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