US markets end lower on Tuesday

27 Mar 2024 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Tuesday on concerns about the economic impact of the indefinite suspension of vessel traffic into and out of the Port of Baltimore. Vessel traffic was suspended after a cargo ship crashed into a pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday morning, leading to the bridge's collapse. Networking stocks showed a notable move to the downside over the course of the session, dragging the NYSE Arca Networking Index down by 1.2 percent. A pullback by the price of crude oil also weighed on energy stocks, with the Philadelphia Oil Service and the NYSE Arca Oil Index falling by 1.2 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively. Utilities, semiconductor and telecom stocks also saw some weakness on the day, while strength remained visible among computer hardware stocks.

On the economic data front, the Commerce Department released a report showing a notable increase in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of February. The report said durable goods orders jumped by 1.4 percent in February after plummeting by a revised 6.9 percent in January. Street had expected durable goods orders to shoot up by 1.3 percent compared to the 6.2 percent slump that had been reported for the previous month. Orders for transportation equipment led the way higher, surging by 3.3 percent in February after plunging by 18.3 percent in January. Excluding the rebound in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders climbed by 0.5 percent in February after falling by 0.3 percent in January. Economists had expected a 0.4 percent increase.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 31.31 points or 0.08 percent to 39,282.33, Nasdaq dropped 68.77 points or 0.42 percent to 16,315.7 and S&P 500 was down by 14.61 points or 0.28 percent to 5,203.58.