US markets end deeply in red on profit booking

21 Dec 2023 Evaluate

The US markets ended deeply lower on Wednesday on account of profit booking after gains in recent sessions. A steep drop by shares of FedEx (FDX) also weighed on the markets, with the delivery giant plunging by 12.1 percent on the day. The nosedive by FedEx came after the company reported weaker than expected fiscal second quarter results and lowered its full-year revenue guidance. Traders shrugged off a Conference Board showing a much bigger than expected improvement in U.S. consumer confidence. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index jumped to 110.7 in December from a downwardly revised 101.0 in November. Street had expected the consumer confidence index to rise to 103.4 from the 102.0 originally reported for the previous month. Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released a report showing existing home sales unexpectedly rebounded in the month of November.

NAR said existing home sales climbed by 0.8 percent to an annual rate of 3.82 million in November after plunging by 4.1 percent to a rate of 3.79 million in October. The increase surprised participants, who had expected existing home sales to dip by another 0.5 percent to an annual rate of 3.77 million. On the economic data front, Biotechnology stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the session, with the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index plunging by 3.4 percent after ending Tuesday's trading at a five-month closing high. Netherlands-based Argenx (ARGX) led the sector lower, plummeting by 25.1 percent after reporting disappointing results from a late-stage trial of its therapy for an autoimmune condition that causes skin blistering. Substantial weakness also emerged among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 2.9 percent slump by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The index reached a record closing high on Tuesday.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 475.92 points or 1.27 to 37,082, Nasdaq dropped 225.28 points or 1.5 percent to 14,777.94 and S&P 500 was down by 70.02 points 1.47 percent to 4,698.35.

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