US Market falls on fear of continuation of aggressive rate hikes

The US stock market finished choppy session deeply in negative territory on Friday, 19 August 2022, as investors opted to cash in on the recent strength in the markets amid caution ahead of next week's economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for additional clues about the pace of future interest rate hikes, after Fed officials signals more hawkish rate hikes ahead.

Recent comments from some Fed officials have indicated the central bank will continue to raise interest rates aggressively at its next meeting in September. St. Louis Fed president James Bullard said recently that he expects a third straight 75 basis point interest rate hike in September, while San Francisco Fed colleague Mary Daly said that raising rates by 50 or 75 basis points next month would be "reasonable."

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index dropped 292.30 points, or 0.86%, to 33,706.74. The S&P500 index was down by 55.26 points, or 1.29%, to 4,228.48. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index decreased by 260.13 points, or 2.01%, to 12,705.22. For the week, the Nasdaq dove by 2.6%, the S&P 500 slumped by 1.2% and the Dow edged down by 0.2%.

Total 9 of 11 S&P sectors ended lower, with consumer discretionary sector was the worst performer, erasing 2.1%, followed by financials (down 2%), communication services (down 1.8%), and information technology (down 1.8%) issues.

Among individual stocks, Occidental Petroleum jumped after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway won regulatory approval to purchase up to 50% of the oil company's common stock.

General Motors shares rose after the automaker said it will resume paying a quarterly dividend, which it suspended as the COVID-19 pandemic was unfolding. It will also restart share repurchases, with the board increasing its buyback capacity to $5 billion.

Among Indian ADR, Dr Reddy's Labs declined 1% to $52.22, Tata Motors fell 4.4% to $29.28, WNS Holdings declined 0.2% to $87.45, HDFC Bank fell 2.4% to $63.05, ICICI Bank fell 2.1% to $21.84, and INFOSYS was down 1% to $19.78. Azure Power Global dropped 6.5% to $11.03 and Wipro was down 1.8% to $5.33.

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