US markets slip for second day in a row

09 Jan 2013 Evaluate

The US markets edged lower for a second session on Tuesday, as investors braced for quarterly earnings after a rally that took the S&P 500 to multiyear highs. Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. reported fourth-quarter results, with its release signaling the unofficial start of the earnings season. The largest US aluminum producer posted sales that beat forecasts amid higher-than-expected prices for the metal. Bank of America agreed to settle for $10 billion mortgage loans claims from the government agency Fannie Mae from the loans at its subsidiary Countrywide Financial.  The bank agreed to pay the agency $3.6 billion and buy back $6.75 billion in loans that its Countrywide unit sold to Fannie Mae from January 01, 2000 through December 2008. Separately, federal regulators and ten US banks agreed pay $8.5 billion for foreclosure abuses and flawed loan modifications.

On the economy front, a measure of small-business sentiment in December edged up but still was the second-worst reading since March 2010, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) stated. The NFIB small-business optimism index rose 0.5 point to 88.0, to a level the group says is in recession territory. November's reading was the worst since March 2010. Separately, the Federal Reserve reported US consumers raised their debt in November to $16.1 billion, expanding credit at an annual rate of 7%. Led by student and car loans, credit grew 6.2%, or by $14.2 billion, in October.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 55.44 points or 0.41 percent to 13,328.80, the Nasdaq drop 7.01 points or 0.23 percent to 3,091.81 and the S&P 500 closed lower by 4.74 points or 0.32 percent to 1,457.15.

Indian ADRs closed mostly in red on Tuesday, MTNL was down by 0.91%, Infosys was down 0.77%, HDFC Bank was down 0.72% and ICICI Bank was down 0.46%. On the other hand, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was up 0.37%.

© 2026 The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. MoneyWorks4Me ® is a registered trademark of The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd.

×