US close: Markets mostly lower as crude inventories fall

Wall Street’s main market indices finished Wednesday on a mixed note, despite the release of data showing another drop in oil inventories and stronger-than-expected demand for new homes.

Nasdaq 100

20,504.57

09:30 18/11/24

0.54%

110.44

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.27% at 21,410.03, while the S&P 500 lost 0.06% to 2,435.61 and the Nasdaq 100 finished 0.98% higher at 5,782.39.

Commercial US oil inventories declined by 2.5m barrels in the week ending 16 June to reach 509.1m, according to the Department of Energy, which was more than the 2.0m drop projected by analysts.

WTI prices hit a nine-month low during the previous session, entering bear-market territory after having declined by over 20% from their most recent peak.

Total new home sales grew by 1.1% month-on-month to reach an annualised pace of 5.62m, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Economists had forecast a rate of 5.53m.

In corporate news, shares in open-source software company Red Hat hit levels not seen since the Internet bubble of 2000, rising 9.58% after reporting first quarter sales and earnings per share of $676.8m and 56 cents, respectively.

Stock in AMD was also a top gainer, improving 10.6% after the chip-maker unveiled its Epyc chip for servers.

Another software company, Oracle Corp, booked a 1.07% rise ahead of its reported earnings, due after the close.

Dow Jones - Risers

Nike Inc. (NKE) $52.59 2.00%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $65.46 1.44%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $33.88 0.95%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $76.24 0.93%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $184.92 0.90%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $104.80 0.83%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $145.87 0.59%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $70.27 0.51%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $134.93 0.51%
Boeing Co. (BA) $199.17 0.42%