US major stock indices end the day lower dragged by energy
Gains in financials and drugs were offset by a sharp drop in energy stocks, forcing The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average to end the day with losses.
The S&P 500 financial index .SPSY was up 0.15%, led by big banks such as Citigroup, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Healthcare .SPXHC, advanced by 0.5% as drug stocks started to correct yesterday's steep fall after President Donald Trump's comments on Twitter about making the drug industry more competitive. However, drug stocks may struggle to rise further in the coming days as U.S. President Donald Trump and Congressman Elijah Cummings are scheduled to discuss soaring prescription drug prices.
The energy sector .SPNY, down 2.1%, weighed as oil prices tumbled more than 5% following the EIA inventory report. According to the report published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday, domestic crude supplies for last week jumped by 8.2 million barrels, pushing total commercial inventories up to a record weekly level of 528.4 million.
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Despite the weak performances seen in the last couple of days, major stock indices remain close to their record levels."The market is predicting growth, it is basing its growth on some of the fiscal stimulus out of Trump world, whether it is tax cuts or deregulation, that is where we are right now and that is why the banks are doing well," said Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of trading at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 48.59 points, or 0.23%, to 20,876.17, the S&P 500 lost 3.47 points, or 0.15 %, to 2,364.92 and the Nasdaq Composite added 6.70 points, or 0.11%, to 5,840.63.
Headlines from the U.S. session
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- ADP report signals towards a strong NFP