US markets end higher mostly higher on Friday

22 Jul 2023 Evaluate

The US markets ended mostly higher on Friday.  Markets showed a lack of direction throughout day. The choppy trading on markets came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy meeting next week. With the Fed widely expected to raise interest rates by another 25 basis point, traders are likely to pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for rates. Recent encouraging inflation data has led to optimism next week's rate hike will be the last, and traders will be looking for confirmation from the Fed.  A lack of major U.S. economic data also kept traders on the sidelines following the release of several key reports earlier in the week. 

On the sectoral front, Interest rate-sensitive utilities stocks showed a strong move to the upside, however, with the Dow Jones Utility Average climbing by 1.3 percent to a two-month closing high. Notable strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.1 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. Healthcare, oil and semiconductor stocks also saw some strength on the day, while tobacco and banking stocks moved to the downside.  Among individual stocks, shares of American Express (AXP) moved sharply lower after the credit card giant reported better than expected second quarter earnings but weaker than expected revenues.

Dow Jones Industrial Average added 2.51 points or 0.01 percent to 35,227.69 and S&P 500 was up by 1.47 points or 0.03 percent to 4,536.34, while Nasdaq fell 30.5 points or 0.22 percent to 14,032.81.  


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