US markets drop ahead of earnings season

08 Jan 2013 Evaluate

The US markets edged lower on Monday, with the S&P 500 index retreating from a five-year high, as investors prepare for quarterly earnings reports from US corporations. Aluminum producer Alcoa,which will be the first major firm to report earnings after the closing bell on Tuesday. Investors are presently not much concerned about the threat of steep spending cuts and tax hikes which were averted, along with the next showdown over the debt ceiling until February, and have shifted their focus to quarterly results.

Besides, having failed to cut spending in the fiscal-cliff deal, Republican leaders pledge to do so during the coming debates over the debt ceiling, the automatic spending cuts delayed by the cliff deal and the expiration of a stopgap budget in March. Also raising the debt ceiling will need to be done by late February or early March, and a temporary spending measure expires March 27. Fresh off the fiscal-cliff battle, Democrats and Republicans are revving up for more budget fights and offering previews of what’s to come. On Capitol Hill, Republicans are linking raising the US debt ceiling to reduced spending on entitlement programs including Medicare. Congress has to move as soon as mid-February to keep the country out of default. For starters, Democrats say they want to raise as much as $1 trillion in new revenue through tax reform this year for which Republicans are not ready.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 50.92 points or 0.38 percent to 13,384.30, the Nasdaq drop 2.84 points or 0.09 percent to 3,098.81 and the S&P 500 closed lower by 4.58 points or 0.31 percent to 1,461.89.

Indian ADRs closed mostly in red on Monday, MTNL was down by 0.91%, HDFC Bank was down 0.35% and Tata Communications was down 0.20%. On the other hand, Infosys was up 0.61% and Wipro was up 0.05%.

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