US Market extends losses on rising China-U.S. tensions

The US stock market finished session lower for the second day in a row on Friday, 24 July 2020, as investors continued withdrawing profit off the table due to weaker than expected corporate earnings, surging coronavirus cases and anxious about rising tensions with China. Also hitting sentiment was the first uptick in U.S. jobless claims since March on Thursday.

At closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 182.44 points, or 0.68%, to 26,469.89,. The S&P 500 index lost 20.03 points, or 0.62%, to 3,215.63. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 98.24 points, or 0.94%, to 10,363.18. For the week, the Dow ended 0.8% lower, the S&P 500 had a decline of 0.3%, and the Nasdaq lost 1.3%.

 

Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, all but consumer discretionary closed in the red. Tech was the biggest percentage loser.

Rising coronavirus cases in 40 American states are also limiting business and consumer activity and threatening economic recovery. More than 1,000 Americans died from COVID-19 on Thursday, the third straight day for that grim milestone as total cases surged past 4 million.

Beijing fired back at Washington shuttering China's Houston consulate by closing the U.S. consulate in the city of Chengdu. Beijing's latest move further strains the increasingly fraught relationship with the U.S., which forced China to leave its mission in Houston earlier this week. The two superpowers have also recently clashed on trade and early handling of the coronavirus, raising fears of a protracted conflict.

Intel Corp led the decline, its shares plunging 16.2% after the chipmaker reported a delay in production of a smaller, faster 7-nonometer chip.

On the economic front, the IHS Markit flash manufacturing PMI rose to 51.3 in July from 49.8 in the prior month, while the flash service PMI rose to 49.6 in the month from 47.9 in the prior month, according to Econoday. The composite flash PMI for July was at 50 compared with 47.9 in June.

A report on new homes sales showed a rise of 13.8% in June, hitting an annual rate of 776,00 compared with a revised 682,000 in the prior month.

Among Indian ADR, ICICI Bank shed 0.68% to $10.28, Tata Motors dropped 1.86% to $6.87, WNS Holdings shed 1.07% to $61.28, and Vedanta declined 1.16% to $5.95, while Wipro added 1.8% to $3.96, Dr Reddys Labs was up 0.07% to $54.51, INFOSYS rose 0.74% to $12.33, and HDFC Bank added 0.2% to $50.25 and.

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