US markets end mostly in red on Tuesday

31 Jan 2024 Evaluate

The US markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday as traders cashed in on some of the recent strength in the tech sector. Uncertainty ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday have also inspired traders to book tech-sector profits. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but the accompanying statement could have a significant impact on the outlook for rates. Optimism about a March rate cut has faded recently, with many economists now suggesting the Fed will wait until May to begin lowering rates. However, the uptick by the Dow came amid strong gains by financial giants JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Goldman Sachs (GS). On the sectoral front, airline stocks saw substantial weakness on the day, resulting in a 2.6 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. JetBlue Airways (JBLU) moved sharply lower after reporting a narrower than expected fourth quarter loss but forecasting lower revenues and higher costs in the first quarter.

On the economic data front, Labor Department released a report this morning showing an unexpected increase in job openings in the month of December. The Labor Department said job openings rose to 9.03 million in December from an upwardly revised 8.93 million in November. Street had expected job openings to dip to 8.75 million in December from the 8.79 million originally reported for the previous month. A separate report released by the Conference Board showed a continued improvement in U.S. consumer confidence in the month of January. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index jumped to 114.8 in January from a downwardly revised 108.0 in December. Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to climb to 114.0 from the 110.7 originally reported for the previous month.

Nasdaq fell 118.15 points or 0.76 percent to 15,509.9 and S&P 500 edged down 2.96 points or 0.06 percent to 4,924.97, while Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 133.86 points or 0.35 percent to 38,467.31. 


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