US markets end lower on Tuesday

20 Sep 2023 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Tuesday as traders remained on edge ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders were paying close attention to the accompanying statement and the central bank's projections for clues about the outlook for rates. Negative sentiment  was also generated in reaction to a Commerce Department report showing a sharp pullback in U.S. housing starts in the month of August. The report said housing starts plunged by 11.3 percent to an annual rate of 1.283 million in August after jumping by 2.0 percent to a revised rate of 1.447 million in July. Street had expected housing starts to decrease to an annual rate of 1.440 million from the 1.452 million originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said building permits surged by 6.9 percent to an annual rate of 1.543 million in August after inching up by 0.1 percent to a revised rate of 1.443 million in July. Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to rise to an annual rate of 1.445 million from the 1.442 million originally reported for the previous month. With the sharp increase, building permits reached their highest level since hitting an annual rate of 1.555 million last October. On the sectoral front, gold stocks showed a significant move to the downside on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 2.1 percent. The index pulled back off its best closing level in over a month. The pullback by gold stocks came despite a slight increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for December delivery inching up $0.30 to $1,953.70 an ounce.

Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 106.57 points or 0.31 percent to 34,517.73, Nasdaq fell 32.05 points or 0.23 percent to 13,678.19 and S&P 500 was down by 9.58 points or 0.22 percent to 4,443.95.


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