US close: Stocks trade lower following Memorial Day break

By Sharecast News

Sharecast News | 31 May, 2022

Major indices were in the red at the close of trading on Tuesday as the Street failed to carry over last week's momentum upon its return from the Memorial Day long weekend.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.67% at 32,990.12, while the S&P 500 was 0.63% weaker at 4,132.25 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.41% softer at 12,081.39.

The Dow closed 222.84 points lower on Tuesday, taking a bite of gains recorded in the previous session when the blue-chip index snapped a seven-week-long losing streak.

Tuesday's moves came as market participants continued to battle with fears that rising inflation in both the US and abroad may slow down global economic growth after eurozone inflation hit an all-time high for a seventh consecutive month in May, surging to 8.1%.

Traders also digested news that economic activity slowed further in China in May, according to fresh official data released on Tuesday, with measures for both the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors remaining in contraction territory. The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index came in at 49.6 for the month, up from 47.4 in April and just ahead of consensus expectations for a reading of 49.0.

Also weighing on sentiment was news that the European Union had agreed to ban the bulk of crude oil imports from Russia. West Texas Intermediate futures initially traded almost 3% higher on the news before easing off to $114.67 per barrel, while Brent crude was up 0.96% at $122.84 a barrel.

On the macro front, the US housing index rose to 386.5 points in March, up from 381 points in February, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Elsewhere, the Chicago purchasing managers index increased to 60.3 in May, according to the Institute for Supply Management, up from a downwardly revised print of 56.4 in April and beating market forecasts for a print of 55.

Still on data, the Conference Board's May consumer confidence index decreased slightly in May to now stand at 106.4, down from an upwardly revised print of 108.6 in April. The present situation index, based on consumers' assessment of current business and labour market conditions, declined to 149.6 from 152.9 a month earlier, while the expectations index, based on consumers' short-term outlook for income, business, and labour market conditions, declined to 77.5 from 79.0.

Finally, the Dallas Fed's manufacturing index plunged to -7.3 in May, down from 1.1 in April for the lowest reading since May 2020.

No major corporate earnings were released on Tuesday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

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