US Stocks end mixed

21 Apr 2022 , 10:06 AM

The US shares were mixed on Wednesday, 20 April 2022, with the S&P500 and the Nasdaq indexes closing down while the Dow registered second-successive higher close by positive earnings from consumer giant Procter & Gamble and IT firm IBM Corp.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index advanced 249.59 points, or 0.71%, to 35,160.79. The S&P500 index was down 2.76 points, or 0.06%, to 4,459.45. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped by 166.59 points, or 1.22%, to 13,453.07.

Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE exchange by 2118 to 1196 and 142 closed unchanged. In the NASDAQ, 2404 issues advanced, 2398 issues declined, and 262 issues unchanged.

Total 8 of 11 major S&P 500 sector indexes advanced, with top performing issues were real estate (up 1.85%), consumer staples (up 1.46%), healthcare (up 1.34%), and materials (up 0.7%), while bottom performing sectors included communication services (down 4.1%) and consumer discretionary (down 1.36%).

shares of Netflix plummeted by 35.1% to its lowest closing level in four years after the company reported the loss of 200,000 subscribers during the first quarter, making the first decrease in subscribers in over a decade, blaming inflation, the Ukraine war and fierce competition for the subscriber decline and predicted deeper losses ahead.

Shares of IBM spiked by 7.1% after the tech giant reported better than expected first quarter results.

Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble also jumped by 2.7% after reporting better than expected first quarter results and raising its full-year sales guidance.

ECONOMIC NEWS: The Federal Reserve released its Beige Book, which said U.S. economic activity has expanded at a moderate pace since mid-February. The Fed noted consumer spending accelerated among retail and non-financial service firms, as Covid-19 cases tapered across the country. Manufacturing activity was also described as solid overall, although the Fed said labor market tightness and elevated input costs continued to pose challenges on firms abilities to meet demand. The Fed is expected to continue to roll out rate hikes at upcoming meetings in its bid to get a grasp on spiking inflation as several officials have struck a more hawkish tone.

The National Association of Realtors released a report showing existing home sales slumped by 2.7% to an annual rate of 5.77 million in March after plunging by 8.6% to a downwardly revised rate of 5.93 million in February.

Among Indian ADR, Wipro added 0.58% to $6.99, HDFC Bank rose 2.35% to $55.85, Dr Reddys Labs added 2.33% to $56.77, Tata Motors added 2.27% to $28.83, and INFOSYS added 0.73% to $20.57. ICICI Bank declined 1.2% to $19.71, WNS Holdings shed 0.9% to $84, and Azure Power Global tanked 4.9% to $15.11.

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