The US markets ended lower on Wednesday, with Nasdaq settling cut of one and half percent, amid a steep drop by shares of Target (TGT), with the retail giant plunging by 13.1 percent. Target came under pressure after reporting weaker than expected third quarter earnings and slashing its operating margin forecast for the current quarter. Traders were also digesting a mixed batch of U.S. economic data, which added to recent uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates. The Commerce Department released a report showing a significant increase in U.S. retail sales in the month of October. The report showed retail sales surged by 1.3 percent in October after coming in unchanged in September. Street had expected retail sales to jump by 1.0 percent. Excluding a sharp increase in sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales still shot up by 1.3 percent in October after inching up by 0.1 percent in September. Ex-auto sales were expected to rise by 0.4 percent.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve released a separate report unexpectedly showing a modest decrease in US industrial production in the month of October. The Fed said industrial production edged down by 0.1 percent in October following a revised 0.1 percent uptick in September. The dip surprised participants, who had expected industrial production to inch up by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.4 percent increase originally reported for the previous month. On the sectoral front, semiconductor stocks showed a substantial pullback on the day. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plummeted by 4.3 percent after ending the preceding session at its best closing level in well over two months. Significant weakness was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 3.9 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.
Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 39.09 points or 0.12 percent to 33,553.83, Nasdaq dropped 174.75 points or 1.54 percent to 11,183.66 and S&P 500 was down by 32.94 points 0.83 percent to 3,958.79.
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