US: S&P 500, Dow ends near record highs

The US stocks mostly moved higher on Wednesday, 20 October 2021, with the S&P500 and the Nasdaq finished near record highs, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq bucked the uptrend, edging slightly lower. The strength on Wall Street came as investors reacted positively to largely upbeat corporate earnings and forecasts news. However, market gains capped on growth concerns after the Federal Reserve's Beige Book noted the pace of U.S. economic growth has recently slowed.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index advanced 152.03 points, or 0.43%, to 35,609.34. The S&P500 index added 16.56 points, or 0.37%, to 4,536.19. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 7.41 points, or 0.05%, to 15,121.68.

Total volume turnover on U.S. exchanges stood at 8.01 billion shares. In the NYSE exchange, 2244 issues advanced, 1044 issues declined, and 157 issues closed unchanged. In the NASDAQ, 2568 issues advanced, 1880 issues declined, and 252 issues unchanged.

Total 8 of 11 sectors ended up along with the S&P500 index, with utilities (up 1.56%) was top gaining sector, followed by real estate (up 1.55%), healthcare (up 1.45%), energy (up 0.83%), and materials (up 0.82%), while information technology (down 0.3%) was worst performing sector, followed by communication services (down 0.17%).

Abbott Laboratories shares rose after raising its full-year profit forecast on a rebound in COVID-19 test sales.

Shares of Anthem Inc and Biogen Inc both gained after the healthcare companies raised their full-year earnings forecasts.

Shares of Verizon advanced after the telecom giant reported better than expected third quarter earnings and raised its full-year guidance.

Netflix shares closed down after the streaming giant reported third quarter earnings that beat expectations but provided disappointing guidance.

Facebook Inc shares added after it said it is planning to rebrand itself with new name that focuses on metaverse.

ECONOMIC NEWS: The Beige Book, a compilation of anecdotal evidence on economic conditions in each of the twelve Fed districts, attributed the slowdown to supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and uncertainty around the Delta variant of COVID-19. The Fed also said employment increased at a modest to moderate rate in recent weeks, as demand for workers was high, but labor growth was dampened by a low supply of workers.

Among Indian ADR, Wipro fell 2% to $9.75, ICICI Bank dropped 0.6% to $19.97, INFOSYS fell 0.37% to $24.13, HDFC Bank shed 1.06% to $7757, Dr Reddys Labs dropped 1.17% to $63.09, and Vedanta fell 3.96% to $18.65. WNS Holdings added 3.28% to $86.23 and Tata Motors added 1.12% to $32.36.

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