US Market ends at record close

The US stocks finished session higher on Tuesday, 25 August 2020, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 hit all-time closing highs, as investors cheered optimism about a potential treatment for coronavirus and trade talks among U.S. and Chinese officials following weeks of escalating tensions between the world's two largest economies. However, market gains capped as investors turned cautious ahead to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech to the Jackson Hole symposium on Thursday.

At closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index declined 60.02 points, or 0.21%, to 28,248.44. The S&P 500 index added 12.34 points, or 0.36%, to 3,443.62. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 86.75 points, or 0.76%, to 11,466.47.

The Dow closed modestly lower as Exxon Mobil, Raytheon and Pfizer moved notably lower following news they are being removed from the blue chip index. The three stocks will be replaced by Salesforce.com, Honeywell, and Amgen.

Of the major sectors in the S&P 500, communications services enjoyed the largest%age gain, with energy falling the most.

Shares of American Airlines Group Inc dropped after announcing it would layoff 19,000 employees in October unless the government extends airline payroll aid.

Medtronic's stock advanced after the medical device maker's quarterly profit beat consensus. The company said a revival in elective surgeries was boosting demand.

ECONOMIC NEWS: US New Home Sales Rise Substantially In July- US new home sales spiked by 13.9% to an annual rate of 901,000 in July after soaring by 15.1% to a rate of 791,000 in June, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday. The much bigger than expected jump lifted new home sales to their highest annual rate since reaching 998,000 in December of 2006. New home sales in the Midwest led the way higher in July, skyrocketing by 58.8% to an annual rate of 127,000. The Commerce Department said new home sales in the South and West also surged up by 13.0% and 7.8%, respectively, while new home sales in the Northeast plunged by 23.1%. The report also said the median sale price of new houses sold in July was $330,600, down 1.9% from $337,000 in June but up 7.2% from $308,300 in the same month a year ago.

US Consumer Confidence Stays Low In August- US consumer confidence index slumped to 84.8 in August after tumbling to a downwardly revised 91.7 in July, reflecting a significant deterioration in consumers' assessment of current conditions, the Conference Board reported on Tuesday. The unexpected decrease by the headline index came as the present situation index plunged to 84.2 in August from 95.9 in July. The%age of consumers claiming current business conditions are "good" dipped to 16.4% from 17.5%, while those claiming conditions are "bad" jumped to 43.6% from 38.9%. Consumers' appraisal of the job market was also less favorable, with consumers saying jobs are "plentiful" edging down to 21.5% from 22.3% and those claiming jobs are "hard to get" rising to 25.2% from 20.1%. The Conference Board said its expectations index also fell to 85.2 in August from 88.9 in July, as consumers were more pessimistic about the short-term outlook.

Among Indian ADR, INFOSYS added 0.16% to $12.81, Vedanta rose 0.58% to $6.94, Tata Motors grew 5.22% to $8.67, ICICI Bank was up 2.89% to $10.68, HDFC Bank was up 0.76% to $50.09, and Azure Power Global added 0.64% to $22.10. WNS Holdings fell 0.82% to $66.45, Wipro fell 0.94% to $4.23, and Dr Reddys Labs shed 0.35% to $59.89.

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