US markets end lower as Fitch Ratings downgrades United States' credit rating

03 Aug 2023 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Wednesday, with Nasdaq settling lower over two percent, after credit rating agency Fitch Ratings unexpectedly downgraded the United States' credit rating. Fitch downgraded the U.S. long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating to AA+ from AAA, citing a steady deterioration in standards of governance over the last 20 years. Fitch said the repeated debt-limit political standoffs and last-minute resolutions have eroded confidence in fiscal management. On the sectoral front, Semiconductor stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day, resulting in a 3.8 percent nosedive by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Significant weakness was also visible among software stocks, as reflected by the 3.0 percent plunge by the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index.

Gold stocks also saw considerable weakness amid a modest decrease by the price of the precious metal, dragging the Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 2.8 percent. Steel, computer hardware, oil and retail stocks also showed notable moves to the downside, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors. On the economic data front, payroll processor ADP released a report showing U.S. private sector employment jumped by much more than expected in the month of July. ADP said private sector employment shot up by 324,000 jobs in July after surging by a downwardly revised 455,000 jobs in June. Street had expected private sector employment to increase by 189,000 jobs compared to the spike of 497,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 348.16 points or 0.98 percent to 35,282.52, Nasdaq fell 310.47 points or 2.17 percent to 13,973.45 and S&P 500 was down by 63.34 points or 1.38 percent to 4,513.39.


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