The US markets settled mostly in red on Wednesday, with Nasdaq ending cut of over two percent, amid a negative reaction to earnings news from tech giants Microsoft and Alphabet. Shares of Microsoft tumbled by 7.7 percent after the software giant reported better than expected results but provided disappointing guidance. Google parent Alphabet also plunged by 9.1 percent after reporting third quarter results that missed street estimates on both the top and bottom lines. Besides, weakness also prevailed in the markets as the Commerce Department released a report showing new home sales in the US pulled back sharply in September after unexpectedly skyrocketing in August, although the decrease was smaller than expected. The report showed new home sales tumbled by 10.9 percent to an annual rate of 603,000 in September after soaring by 24.7 percent to a revised rate of 677,000 in August. Street had expected new home sales to plunge by 14.6 percent to a rate of 585,000 from the 685,000 originally reported for the previous month.
On the sectoral front, despite the pullback by the broader indices, tobacco stocks moved sharply higher on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index up by 6.3 percent to its best closing level in well over a month. Substantial strength was also visible among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 4.8 percent spike by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index. The index shot up to a four-month closing high. The rally by oil service stocks came amid a notable increase by the price of crude oil, with crude for December delivery surging $2.59 to $87.91 a barrel. An increase by the price of gold also contributed to considerable strength among gold stocks, resulting in a 3.0 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.
Nasdaq fell 228.12 points or 2.04 percent to 10,970.99 and S&P 500 was down by 28.51 points 0.74 percent to 3,830.6, while Dow Jones Industrial Average added 2.37 points or 0.01 percent to 31,839.11.
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