US Stocks fall as coronavirus relief talks stall

The US stock market finished volatile session lower on Tuesday, 11 August 2020, as investors elected to book recent profit on growing uncertainty about breaking a stalemate in Washington over a fiscal stimulus deal. At closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 104.53 points, or 0.38%, to 27,686.91. The S&P 500 index dropped 26.78 points, 0.8%, to 3,333.69. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index lost 185.53 points, 1.69%, to 10,782.82.

The US market soared Tuesday morning as investors cheered the possibility of a capital-gains tax cut. President Trump said Monday afternoon he was considering lowering the capital gains tax rate, a move that would boost investors' realized profits.

 

But, the market failed to hold momentum and fell down in afternoon after comments from U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell that White House negotiators had not spoken on Tuesday with Democratic leaders in the U.S. Congress on coronavirus aid legislation after talks broke down last week.

Also in focus are Sino-U.S. tensions ahead of high-stakes trade talks in the coming weekend. China imposed sanctions on 11 U.S. citizens that included Senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Tom Cotton, Josh Hawley and Pat Toomey. The move from Beijing followed after Washington last week said it will impose sanctions on 11 individuals including Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam for her role in overseeing and implementing Beijing's policies of suppression of freedom and democratic processes.

Investors are awaiting a meeting between top U.S. and Chinese trade officials on Saturday to review the first six months of the Phase 1 trade deal.

In vaccine news, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the country had developed and approved the first successful coronavirus vaccine. The lack of phase-three testing of the vaccine has made several health authorities skeptical of its safety.

ECONOMIC NEWS: US Producer Price Index Rise 0.6% In July - US producer price index for final demand rose by 0.6% in July after dipping by 0.2% in June, the Labor Department reported on Tuesday, partly reflecting a notable increase in prices for services. The rebound in producer prices reflected the largest increase since October of 2018. Energy prices showed another substantial increase during the month, spiking by 5.3% in July after soaring by 7.7% in June. Meanwhile, the report said food prices fell by 0.5% in July after plunging by 5.2% in the previous month. Excluding food and energy prices, core producer prices still climbed by 0.5% in July after falling by 0.3% in June.

Among Indian ADR, Vedanta added 0.91% to $6.69, WNS Holdings added 0.9% to $65.83, Wipro rose 0.47% to $4.25, ICICI Bank advanced 1.81% to $10.14, HDFC Bank rose 1.95% to $47.04, and INFOSYS grew 0.32% to $12.63. Dr Reddys Labs fell 1.67% to $61.26, Azure Power Global dropped 0.14% to $20.84, and Tata Motors shed 1.34% to $8.10.

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