U.S. markets ended lower on Wednesday as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of some key earnings news, while fresh tariffs and rising oil prices remained in focus. Traders overlooked a report released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed an unexpected increase in U.S. crude oil inventories in the week ended July 17th. The EIA said crude oil inventories in the US rose by 2.011 million barrels in the week ended July 17, compared with market expectations for a 1.25 million-barrel draw. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 674 thousand barrels in the week. US gasoline stocks rose by 765 thousand barrels in the week, versus expectations for a 1.54 million-barrel draw. Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 1.395 million barrels, above forecasts for a 0.83 million-barrel rise. On the sectoral front, software stocks showed a significant move to the downside on the day, resulting in a 2.5 percent slump by the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index. Considerable weakness was also visible among airline stocks due to the surge in crude oil prices, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index falling by 1.8 percent.
Nasdaq fell 146.30 points or 0.57 percent to 25,690.90, S&P 500 slipped 10.24 points or 0.14 percent to 7,498.96 and Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 6.06 points or 0.01 percent to 52,218.58.
