US Market ends choppy trade slightly lower

The US share market finished choppy session slightly lower on Wednesday, 22 June 2022, on fears the U.S. economy could slip into recession after Powell, in testimony to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, stated that higher rates are painful but are the means the U.S. central bank has to slow inflation.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index declined 47.12 points, or 0.15%, to 30,483.13. The S&P500 index was down 4.90 points, or 0.13%, to 3,759.89. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 16.22 points, or 0.15%, to 11,053.08.

Total 7 of 11 major S&P sectors ended the session lower, with energy (down 4.2%) and materials (down 1.3%) issues suffered the largest percentage losses, while real estate (up 1.6%) and healthcare (up 1.4%) issues enjoyed the largest percentage gains.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as investors reacted to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony before the Senate Banking Committee. In prepared remarks, Powell indicated the Fed plans to continue moving expeditiously to combat inflation but argued the U.S. economy is strong enough to handle tighter monetary policy. However, Powell later acknowledged that achieving a "soft landing" will be "very challenging" due in part to factors outside of the Fed's control and noted a recession is "certainly a possibility."

Investors are continuing to assess how worried they need to be about central banks potentially pushing the world economy into recession as they attempt to curb inflation with interest rate increases.

Among Indian ADR, Tata Motors fell 2.8% to $25.36, INFOSYS fell 2.4% to $18.32, ICICI Bank shed 2.1% to $17.63, HDFC Bank dropped 0.6% to $55.65, Dr Reddy's Labs declined 0.7% to $54.70, and Wipro sank 2.9% to $5.33. Azure Power Global sank 8% to $10.64. WNS Holdings added 0.9% to $71.76.

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