US Market snaps five-day win streak

The US equity market finished session lower for the first time in six consecutive sessions on Tuesday, 21 January 2020, as investors withdrew profit off the table after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its global economic growth forecast. Meanwhile, the risk-off mood fueled further on reports that a deadly respiratory illness that originated in China had migrated to the U.S. At closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 152.06 points, or 0.52%, to 29,196.04, ending its five-day streak of gains. The S&P 500 index fell 8.83 points, or 0.27%, to 3,320.79 and the Nasdaq Composite index was down 18.14 points, or 0.19%, to 9,370.81. U.S. markets were closed Monday in observance of Martin King Luther Jr. Day.

The risk-off mood in Asian equities spilled over onto Wall Street after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the first case of the coronavirus within the U.S. The virus's outbreak in China, which originated in the city of Wuhan, has sickened around 300 people, leaving six dead, according to Chinese state media and health officials.

The International Monetary Fund, or IMF, downgraded its global economic growth forecast from 3.4% to 3.3% for 2020, with the organization projecting that the U.S. economy to grow by 2.0% this year, a cut of 0.1 percentage points compared with the IMF's October 2019 forecast.

Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500 seven ended the session in the red, with energy, industrials, and materials suffering the largest percentage drops. Hotel and casino operators and luxury stocks tumbled on worries the virus will disrupt spending during a key Chinese holiday period. Steel stocks, which have a sizable exposure to China, also fell. Banks declined after UBS Group AG missed profitability targets; Boeing slumped on speculation its 737 Max jet wouldn't be cleared to fly until mid-year.

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