US markets end lower on Monday

02 Dec 2025 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Monday as traders opted to cash in on recent gains made by the markets, which saw the major averages stage a significant recovery from the sharp pullback seen earlier in November. While the markets benefitted from renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates following dovish comments from leading Federal Reserve (Fed) officials, the release of key U.S. economic data in the coming days could impact Fed officials' thinking which sparked caution among investors. Further, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released a report showing an unexpected modest decrease by its reading on U.S. manufacturing activity in the month of November. The ISM said its manufacturing PMI slipped to 48.2 in November from 48.7 in October, with a reading below 50 indicating contraction. Street had expected the index to inch up to 49.0. 

On sectoral front, utilities stocks showed a significant move to the downside on the day, dragging the Dow Jones Utility Average down by 2.3 percent to its lowest closing level in two months. Considerable weakness was also visible among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 2.1 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index.

Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 427.09 points or 0.90 percent to 47,289.33, S&P 500 slid 36.46 points or 0.53 percent to 6,812.63 and Nasdaq fell 89.76 points or 0.38 percent to 23,275.92.

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