US Stocks end lower

The US equity market finished choppy session lower on Tuesday, 28 April 2020, as investors sentiments weighed down on concerns about economic challenges caused by the coronavirus shutdowns after mixed earnings reports and weaker than expected consumer confidence data. At closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 32.23 points, or 0.1%, to 24,101.55, snapping four days of gains. The S&P 500 - a gauge of US retirement and education savings accounts - shed 15.09 points, or 0.5%, to 2,863.39.. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 122.43 points, or 1.4%, to 8,607.73.

Wall Street stocks opened higher amid continued investor confidence following steps by a number of US states to reopen their economies. In the United States, some governors are rolling back curbs and allowing restaurants, hair salons and other businesses to reopen despite warnings by health experts that moving too fast might lead to new outbreaks. President Donald Trump, running for re-election amid a slump that has wiped out more than 10 million jobs, is pressing other governors to lift lockdowns. Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, one of the hardest-hit and most populous states, says controls will be eased only after numbers of new cases decline.

 

Buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading after mixed earnings from a slew of large companies and weaker than expected Consumer confidence data for April. The Conference Board released a report showing consumer confidence deteriorated to 86.9 in April after tumbling to a downwardly revised 118.8 in March.

3M Co shares gained after it reported higher profits following a surge in demand for its N95 "respirator" masks, but said it would cut spending by US$350 million to US$400 million amid weakness in other divisions.

Shares of pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. Inc. declined after it reported results that topped sales and earnings forecasts, but lowered its 2020 outlook.

Shares of Ford climbed after the company expects to begin reopening its European factories as soon as next week.

Shares of Caterpillar ended tad higher after it reported a drop in profits on a weak outlook for commodities and warned that second-quarter results would suffer further.

ECONOMIC NEWS: US Consumer Confidence Deteriorates In April --US consumer confidence index deteriorated to 86.9 in April after tumbling to a downwardly revised 118.8 in March, according to a report released by the Conference Board on Tuesday. The steep drop by the headline index came as the present situation index showed a record nosedive to 76.4 in April from 166.7 in March. Consumers saying current business conditions are "good" slumped to 20.8% from 39.2%, while those climbing conditions are "bad" spiked to 45.2% from 11.7%. The report noted consumers' assessment of the job market also eroded significantly, with those saying jobs are plentiful plunging to 20.0% from 43.3% and those saying jobs are "hard to get" surging up to 33.6% from 13.8%. Meanwhile, the Conference Board said the expectations index climbed to 93.8 in April after falling sharply to 86.8 in March.

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