US Wall Street closes down

The US share market finished session into a negative territory after wiping out early gains on Monday, 18 July 2022, on caution ahead of the release of earnings news from a slew of big-name companies later this week and next week's Federal Reserve meeting.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index declined 215.65 points, or 0.69%, to 31,072.61. The S&P500 index was down 32.31 points, or 0.84%, to 3,83.85. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 92.37 points, or 0.81%, to 11,360.05.

Total 8 of 11 major S&P sectors ended the session lower, with healthcare (down 2.15%), communication services (down 1.09%), real estate (down 1.08%), and information technology (down 1.03%) issues suffered largest percentage losses. Energy was the clear winner, gaining 2%.

US stocks had begun the day brightly following strong gains in Europe and Asia on Monday as well as strong retail sales data and a survey hinting at easing inflation expectations. Asia-Pacific shares rose after reports Beijing regulators were urging banks to finance developers in the wake of homeowners boycotting mortgage payments on unfinished houses. But, the US stocks gave up their early gains on Monday afternoon after reports about slowing spending at tech group Apple reignited concerns about a potential recession.

Healthcare stocks were major drag on the market. Significant weakness also emerged among biotechnology stocks. Pharmaceutical, utilities and networking stocks also moved notably lower. On the other hand, energy stocks advanced amid a sharp increase by the price of crude oil. Crude for August delivery soared $5.01 to $102.60 a barrel amid renewed supply jitters.

Shares of Apple closed down 1.8% at $147.4 on reports that the company plans to slow hiring and spending growth next year in some units to cope with a potential economic downturn.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc advanced 2.1% as it reported a smaller-than-expected 48% slump in second-quarter profit, helped by strength in its fixed-income trading.

Boeing Co shares jumped 0.9% after Delta Air Lines Inc said it would buy 100 MAX 10 jets worth about $13.5 billion at list prices and had options to buy another 30. Shares of Delta jumped 4%.

ECONOMIC NEWS: the National Association of Home Builders released a report showing the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index plunged to 55 in July from 67 in June.

Among Indian ADR, ICICI Bank added 0.6% to $19.12, Tata Motors added 0.6% to $27.99, WNS Holdings added 0.65% to $77.76, Wipro added 0.2% to $5.06, INFOSYS added 1.5% to $18.44, and Azure Power Global added 5.8% to $11.54. HDFC Bank fell 2.8% to $56.36 and Dr Reddy's Labs fell 2.9% to $55.50.

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