US markets end mostly in red on Tuesday

06 Dec 2023 Evaluate

The US markets ended mostly in red on Tuesday as traders continued to cash in on recent strength in the markets amid concerns optimism about the outlook for interest rates has led to overbought conditions. While the Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged in the coming months, traders need more evidence to solidify hopes of a rate cut in the near future. On the sectoral front, Oil service stocks came under pressure over the course of the session, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 2.3 percent to a five-month closing low. The weakness among oil service stocks came amid a decrease by the price of crude oil, with crude for January delivery falling $0.72 to $72.32 a barrel. A modest decrease by the price of gold also weighed on gold stocks, as reflected by the 1.9 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.

On the economic data front, a report released by the Labor Department showed a much bigger than expected decrease in U.S. job openings in the month of October. The report said job openings slid to 8.73 million in October from 9.35 million in September, falling to the lowest level since March 2021. Street had expected job openings to edge down to 9.30 million. Meanwhile, service sector activity in the U.S. grew at a slightly faster rate in the month of November, according to a report released by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). The ISM said its services PMI crept up to 52.7 in November from 51.8 in October, with a reading above 50 indicating growth. Street had expected the index to inch up to 52.0.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 79.88 points or 0.22 percent to 36,124.56 and S&P 500 was down by 2.6 points 0.06 percent to 4,567.18, while Nasdaq gained 44.42 points or 0.31 percent to 14,229.91.   


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