US markets end lower amid continued profit booking

01 Jan 2026 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Wednesday as traders continued to cash in on recent gains made by the markets. Besides, investors remained cautious about Federal reserve’s interest rate outlook as Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly dipped in the week ended December 27. The report said initial jobless claims fell to 199,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's revised level of 215,000. Meanwhile, street had expected jobless claims to rise to 220,000 from the 214,000 originally reported for the previous week. Besides, volumes remained thin as many traders were away from counter on account of New Year's Eve.

On the sectoral front, significant weakness has been seen in biotechnology stocks, dragging the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index down by 1.9 percent. Further, gold stocks showed considerable move to down side amid a slump by the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index falling by 1.4 percent.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 303.77 points or 0.63 percent to 48,063.29, Nasdaq slid 177.09 points or 0.76 percent to 23,241.99 and S&P 500 declined 50.74 points or 0.74 percent to 6,845.50.

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