The choppy trading on Wall Street came after heavy falls in the previous session, as uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets amid lacklustre US consumer confidence report kept some investors on the sidelines.
At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index increased 82.32 points, or 0.27%, to 31,029.31. The S&P500 index was down 2.72 points, or 0.07%, to 3,818.83. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 3.65 points, or 0.03%, to 11,177.89.
Total 5 of 11 major S&P sectors ended the session lower, with energy (down 3.4%), real estate (down 0.76%), materials (down 0.73%), financials (down 0.64%), and industrials (down 0.62%) issues suffered largest percentage losses. Healthcare and consumer staple sectors were the clear winners, gaining 0.87% and 0.5%, respectively.
Investors fretted over the impact of hefty rate increases on the U.S. economy, as data highlighted the contraction of the U.S. economy in the first quarter amid a record trade deficit following a Tuesday report that showed U.S. consumer confidence hit a 16-month low.
Market participants also kept an eye on remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Powell reiterated his previously shared belief that the U.S. economy is "well positioned to withstand tighter monetary policy" but cautioned there's no guarantee the Fed can engineer a "soft landing."Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said there was a risk that interest rate increases will slow the economy too much, but persistent inflation was the bigger worry.
Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester advocated for another 75 basis points (bps) interest rate hike in the U.S. central bank's July meeting, if economic conditions remained the same.
San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly and New York Fed President John Williams also backed further rapid interest rate hikes on Tuesday and pushed back against fears that sharply higher borrowing costs will trigger a steep downturn.
ECONOMIC NEWS: The Commerce Department latest report showed decrease in real gross domestic product in the first quarter was revised to 1.6% from the previously reported 1.5%.
Among Indian ADR, Tata Motors added 0.3% to $26.31, ICICI Bank added 0.06% to $17.75, HDFC Bank added 0.7% to $55.56, Dr Reddy's Labs added 0.1% to $55.34, Wipro added 0.4% to $5.34, INFOSYS added 0.8% to $18.61, and WNS Holdings added 0.1% to $74.20. Azure Power Global declined 9.4% to $11.06.
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