US markets end lower on Wednesday

18 Jan 2024 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Wednesday. The weakness on markets partly reflected ongoing uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates amid recent concerns the Federal Reserve won't lower rates as early as previously anticipated. Adding to worries the Fed will hold off on cutting rates, the Commerce Department released a report showing U.S. retail sales increased by more than expected in the month of December. The report said retail sales climbed by 0.6 percent in December after rising by 0.3 percent in November. Street had expected retail sales to advance by 0.4 percent. Excluding a jump in sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales rose by 0.4 percent in December after inching up by 0.2 percent in November. Ex-auto sales were expected to edge up by another 0.2 percent.

A separate report released by the Federal Reserve showed an unexpected uptick in U.S. industrial production in the month of December. The Fed said industrial production inched up by 0.1 percent in December, while revised data showed production was unchanged in November. Street had expected industrial production to come in unchanged compared to the 0.2 percent increase originally reported for the previous month. On the sectoral front, airline stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances on the day, resulting in a 3.2 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. The index fell to its lowest closing level in well over a month. Shares of Spirit Airlines (SAVE) plummeted after a federal judge blocked JetBlue's (JBLU) proposed $3.8 billion acquisition of the discount airline.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 94.45 points or 0.25 percent to 37,266.67, Nasdaq declined 88.72 points or 0.59 to 14,855.62 and S&P 500 was down by 26.77 points 0.56 percent to 4,739.21.


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