US markets settle mostly higher on Tuesday

17 Aug 2022 Evaluate

The US markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied, rising for a fifth day as earnings results from Walmart and Home Depot showed consumer spending could remain strong enough to keep the economy from tipping over into a downturn. Sentiments got boost as report from the Federal Reserve showed US industrial production increased by more than expected in the month of July. The Fed said industrial production climbed by 0.6 percent in July following a revised unchanged reading in June. Street had expected industrial production to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.2 percent dip originally reported for the previous month. Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a Commerce Department report showing new residential construction tumbled by much more than expected in the month of July. 

The report showed housing starts plunged by 9.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.446 million in July after slumping by 2.4 percent to a rate of 1.559 million in June. Street had expected housing starts to decline by 1.2 percent to a rate of 1.540 million. With the much steeper than expected drop, housing starts dove to their lowest annual rate since hitting 1.430 million in February of 2021. Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, also fell by 1.3 percent to an annual rate of 1.674 million after inching up by 0.1 percent to a revised rate of 1.696 million in June. On the sectoral front, retail stocks turned in a strong performance following the upward earnings news from Walmart and Home Depot, with the Dow Jones US Retail Index surging by 2 percent to its best closing level in well over three months.

Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 239.57 points or 0.71 percent to 34,152.01 and S&P 500 was up by 8.06 points or 0.19 percent to 4,305.2, while Nasdaq fell 25.5 points or 0.19 percent to 13,102.55.

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