US markets end mostly in red on Tuesday

19 Apr 2023 Evaluate

The US markets ended mostly in red on Tuesday as investors assessed the outlook for interest rates and looked to more earnings and data for clarity about the state of the economy. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said that he favored continued interest-rate hikes to counter persistent inflation. Bullard said recession fears are overblown. In earnings reports, Bank of America reported higher than expected revenue and earnings for the first quarter. The company's first-quarter earnings totaled $7.66 billion, or $0.94 per share. This compares with $6.60 billion, or $0.80 per share, in last year's first quarter. United Airlines Holdings reported a loss of $0.19 billion for the first quarter, compared with a loss of $1.38 billion in the year-ago quarter. Johnson & Johnson's results beat market expectations, but the company still reported a net loss due to a one-time charges related to talc liabilities and the company spinning off its consumer health business.

On the economic data front, data from the Commerce Department showed U.S. housing starts slid by 0.8 percent to an annual rate of 1.420 million in March from a revised rate of 1.432 million in February. Street had expected housing starts to decline to a rate of 1.400 million from the 1.450 million originally reported for the previous month. The data also showed building permits plunged by 8.8 percent to a rate of 1.413 million in March from a revised rate of 1.550 million in February. Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to fall to a rate of 1.441 million from the 1.524 million originally reported for the previous month.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 10.55 points or 0.03 percent to 33,976.63 and Nasdaq dropped 4.31 points or 0.04 percent to 12,153.41, while S&P 500 was up by 3.55 points or 0.09 percent to 4,154.87.

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