US markets end lower on Wednesday

02 Jun 2022 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Wednesday after Construction spending in the US increased by less than expected in the month of April, according to a report released by the Commerce Department. The report showed construction spending edged up by 0.2 percent to an annual rate of $1.745 trillion in April after rising by 0.3 percent to a revised rate of $1.741 trillion in March. Street had expected construction spending to climb by 0.5 percent compared to the 0.1 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month. The modest increase in construction spending came as spending on private construction rose by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of $1.395 trillion. A 0.9 percent advance in spending on residential construction was partly offset by a 0.2 percent dip in spending on non-residential construction. Meanwhile, the report showed spending on public construction slid by 0.7 percent to an annual rate of $350.1 billion.

Meanwhile, a majority of the twelve Federal Reserve districts have recently experienced slight or modest economic growth, according to the central bank's Beige Book. The Beige Book, a compilation of anecdotal evidence on economic conditions in each of the twelve Fed districts, said four districts explicitly noted that the pace of growth had slowed since the prior period. The slower growth comes as retail contacts noted some softening as consumers faced higher prices, and residential real estate contacts observed weakness as buyers faced high prices and rising interest rates. On the sectoral front, Airline stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances on the day, resulting in a 4.3 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. Considerable weakness was also visible among financial stocks, with the KBW Bank Index and the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index falling by 2 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 176.89 points or 0.54 percent to 32,813.23, Nasdaq dropped 86.93 points or 0.72 percent to 11,994.46 and S&P 500 was down by 30.92 points or 0.75 percent to 4,101.23.

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