US markets end in red on Tuesday

04 Jan 2023 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Tuesday on concerns about the outlook for interest rates. Further, traders were reluctant to make significant bets ahead of the release of some key economic data later this week, including the closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday. Reports on manufacturing and service sector activity may also attract attention in the coming days along with the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting. On the sectoral front, Energy stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day, moving sharply lower along with the price of crude oil. With crude for February delivery plunging $3.33 to $76.93 a barrel, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index plummeted by 4.3 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index dove by 4.2 percent. A steep drop by the price of natural gas also weighed on natural gas stocks, dragging the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index down by 3.1 percent.

On the economic data front, a report released by the Commerce Department unexpectedly showed a modest increase in U.S. construction spending in the month of November. The Commerce Department said construction spending crept up by 0.2 percent to an annual rate of $1.808 trillion in November after edging down by 0.2 percent to a revised rate of $1.803 trillion in October. The uptick surprised participants, who had been expecting construction to decrease by 0.4 percent compared to the 0.3 percent dip originally reported for the previous month. The unexpected increase in construction spending came as spending on private construction rose by 0.3 percent to an annual rate of $1.426 trillion. Spending on non-residential construction surged by 1.7 percent to an annual rate of $558.3 billion, more than offsetting a 0.5 percent drop in spending on residential construction to an annual rate of $868.0 billion.

Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 10.88 points or 0.03 percent to 33,136.37, Nasdaq fell 79.5 points or 0.76 percent to 10,386.99 and S&P 500 was down by 15.36 points or 0.4 percent to 3,824.14.

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