US stocks end lower as tech, financial shares fall

US equities closed lower, pressured by the losses in tech and banks shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 43.68 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 26,004.83 on Wednesday. The S&P 500 was down 5.88 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 2,879.84. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 29.85 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 7,792.72, Xinhua reported.

Shares of Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase slid 2.32 per cent and 1.27 per cent, respectively, among the worst performers in the Dow. The S&P 500 financials sector declined 0.95 per cent.

Major chip stocks underperformed, weighing on the tech sector. Shares of Lam Research Corporation slumped 5.29 per cent, while Qualcomm dropped 2.32 per cent. VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH), which tracks the overall performances of major US exchange-listed companies in the semiconductor industry, closed down 2.17 per cent.

On the economic front, the U.S. consumer price index for all urban consumers increased 0.1 per cent in May on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.3 per cent in April, the US Department of Labor reported.

The closely-watched core inflation that strips out food and energy also advanced a scant 0.1 per cent last month.

The muted inflation data came as investors increasingly speculate on interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

Market expectations for lower rates by July were at 85.3 per cent on Wednesday, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.

--IANS

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