US Market extends gain on Wednesday

The US shares were modestly higher on Wednesday, 20 July 2022, with the major averages all finished the day in positive territory after fluctuating in and out of boundary line, as investors parsed through the latest corporate results.

Market gains were, however, limited amid growing concern that Europe may lose access to Russian gas and fresh uncertainties stemming from the conflict in Ukraine as Russian forces shelled eastern and southern Ukraine, after Washington said it saw signs Moscow was preparing to formally annex territory it has seized during nearly five months of war.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index advanced 47.79 points, or 0.15%, to 31,874.84. The S&P500 index was up 23.21 points, or 0.59%, to 3,959.90. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained by 184.50 points, or 1.58%, to 11,897.65.

Total 7 of 11 major S&P sectors ended the session higher, with consumer discretionary (up 1.76%), information technology (up 1.56%), energy (up 1.02%), and communication services (up 1.01%) issues enjoyed largest percentage gains. Healthcare sector suffered the largest percentage loss, falling 1.06%.

Shares of Netflix rose after the streaming giant reported better-than-feared earnings and a smaller than expected subscriber loss on Tuesday and expects to return to subscriber growth before the end of the year.

Shares of Merck declined after a late-stage trial of the drug maker's Keytruda cancer drug did not meet its primary endpoint of event-free survival in head and neck cancer patients.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Latest report released by the National Association of Realtors showed existing home sales tumbled by 5.4% to an annual rate of 5.12 million in June after slumping by 3.4% to an annual rate of 5.41 million in May.

Among Indian ADR, ICICI Bank fell 0.56% to $19.56, Tata Motors fell 1.54% to $28.19, WNS Holdings fell 0.54 to $78.57, Wipro fell 2.31% to $5.07, Dr Reddy's Labs fell 1.07% to $55.66, and Azure Power Global fell 0.51% to $11.76. HDFC Bank added 0.73% to $57.60 and INFOSYS added 0.05% to $18.72.

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