The US markets ended in red on Thursday amid profit booking by investors. Sentiments were negative with the latest earnings report from Walmart (WMT).Walmart reported weaker than expected earnings guidance for the current year, despite posting fourth quarter results that exceeded street estimates.Markets also felt pressure from oil prices, which rose on renewed worries about a potential conflict between the United States and Iran. Traders avoided to take risk after Conference Board released a report stating that continued decrease by its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of December. The report said the leading economic index dipped by 0.2 percent in December after falling by 0.3 percent in November.
Sector wise, airline stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index plummeting by 4.4 percent. Significant weakness was also visible among housing stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent loss posted by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index.
Nasdaq decreased 70.90 points or 0.31 percent to 22,682.72, S&P 500 fell 19.42 points or 0.28 percent to 6,861.89 and Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 267.5 points or 0.54 percent to 49,395.16.
About The Author
