US Stocks extend losses

The US stock market failed to hold early gains and finished lower for second session in row on Tuesday, 18May 2021, as selloff pressure accelerated on weaker than expected housing starts data and on caution ahead to the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's April monetary policy meeting for clues about monetary tightening.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index declined 267.13 points, or 0.78%, to 34,061. The S&P 500 index was down 35.46 points, or 0.85%, at 4,128. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 75.41 points, or 0.56%, to 13,304.

Total 9 out of 11 S&P 500 sectors closed lower, with energy (down 2.63%), industrials (down 1.47%), financials (down 1.35%), communication services (down 1.23%), and materials (down 1.09%) sectors being notable losers, while realty (up 0.17%) sector was notable gainers.

Shares in Walmart rose 2.2% after raising its full-year earnings forecast. The company reported a 31.6% drop in profit for the first quarter.

Shares in Home Depot fell 1% despite posting same-store sales above estimates. The company posted a profit of $3.86 per share in the first quarter,

ECONOMIC NEWS: housing starts fell by 9.5% in April to an annual rate of 1.569 million units after rising 19.8% in the previous month. Building permits rose 0.3% to an annual rate of 1.76 million units last month. Chain store sales in the latest week were up 12.6% on a year ago after the 13.3% annual gain in the prior week.

Among Indian ADR, HDFC Bank added 3.27% to $73.99, ICICI Bank added 0.76% to $17.18, and INFOSYS added 0.5% to $18.26. Vedanta rose 2.55% to $15.69 and Tata Motors added 0.05% to $21.91. WNS Holdings added 1.16% to $70 and Wipro added 1.92% to $7.45. Dr Reddys Labs was down 0.35% to $71.75.

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