At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index fell 66.78 points, or 0.24%, to 28,323.40. The S&P 500 index shed 1.01 points, or 0.03%, to 3,509.44. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index added 4.30 points, or 0.04%, to 11,895.23.
The US market commenced trading with a back-foot, partly due to profit taking following the strong upward move seen over the past several sessions. Lingering uncertainty about the outcome of the presidential election also weighed on the markets as several key states continue to count votes.
Vote counts continue to roll in from six states. Democratic nominee Joe Biden now leads in Pennsylvania and Georgia, according to the latest numbers, suggesting the former Vice President is on track to exceed the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the White House. However, President Donald Trump has claimed the increase in votes for Biden in a number of key states is proof of widespread voter fraud and pledged to take legal challenges to the results all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
However, market losses capped after report from the Labor Department showing stronger than expected job growth in the month of October 2020. The report said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 638,000 jobs in October after surging up by a revised 672,000 jobs in September. The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate dropped to 6.9 percent in October from 7.9 percent in September.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated his call for more government stimulus on Thursday. "We'll have a stronger recovery if we can at least get some fiscal support," he said in remarks following the publication of the central bank's November monetary policy statement. The Fed left interest rates unchanged near zero and warned that the coronavirus crisis continues to pose "considerable risks" to the US economy over the medium term.
Among Indian ADR, Tata Motors slipped 0.11% to $9.49, Dr Reddys Labs declined 1.29% to $66.70, WNS Holdings dropped 0.61% to $63.74, Azure Power Global fell 0.34% to $29.65, Wipro fell 0.39% to $5.11, and INFOSYS fell 0.53% to $14.93. ICICI Bank grew 0.25% to $12.13, HDFC Bank added 1.8% to $63.45, and Vedanta rose 0.58% to $5.19.
Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
