The US markets ended lower on Tuesday with Nasdaq settling cut of over one and half percent. Uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates weighed on the markets ahead of congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Powell is due to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday and the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday. The Fed chief is likely to reiterate recent comments stressing the central bank needs greater confidence inflation is slowing before cutting interest rates. The next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for March 19-20, with the Fed widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged.
On the economic data front, a report released by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) showed U.S. service sector growth slowed by slightly more than expected in the month of February. The ISM said its services PMI fell to 52.6 in February after climbing to 53.4 in January. While a reading above 50 still indicates growth, street had expected the index to show a more modest decrease to 53.0. On the sectoral front, software stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day, resulting in a 3.4 percent nosedive by the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index down. Among software stocks, GitLab (GTLB) plummeted by 21.0 percent after the company reported better than expected fourth quarter results but provided disappointing guidance.
Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 404.64 points or 1.04 percent to 38,585.19, Nasdaq lost 267.92 points or 1.65 percent to 15,939.59 and S&P 500 was down by 52.3 points or 1.02 percent to 5,078.65.
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