US markets snap two days gaining streak on Friday

Snapping their two days gaining streak, US equity markets ended lower on Friday, as traders opted to offload risky assets after recent move to the upside. Sentiments remained dampened after Markit released a report showing that its index of manufacturing activity edged down to 51.4 in September from 52.1 in August, although the data did not attract much attention. A sharp pullback by the price of crude oil also weighed on the markets, with crude for November delivery plunging $1.84 to $44.48 a barrel. The price of crude oil came under pressure after Bloomberg reported Saudi Arabia does not expect an output agreement to stabilize the market in talks in Algiers next week. On the sectoral front, significant weakness was visible among energy stocks, which came under pressure amid the steep drop by the price of crude oil. Semiconductor stocks also saw notable weakness on the day, while most of the other major sectors showed more modest moves.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 131.01 points or 0.71 percent to 18,261.45, Nasdaq lost 33.78 points or 0.63 percent to 5,305.75, while S&P 500 was down by 12.49 points or 0.57 percent to 2,164.69. 

The Indian ADRs closed mostly in red; Tata Motors declined 0.70%, HDFC Bank shed 0.32%, Infosys slipped 0.29% and ICICI Bank was down by 0.23%. On the other hand, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was up 0.20%.