US close: Stocks weaker ahead of Fed chair's testimony
Wall Street's leading indices concluded Tuesday's trading session with losses following a long holiday weekend, as investors kept a cautious stance ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's upcoming Congressional testimony.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.72% at 34,053.87, while the S&P 500 retreated 0.47%, finishing at 4,388.71.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite meanwhile trimmed 0.16%, closing at 13,667.29.
In the foreign exchange market, the dollar advanced against both the sterling and the euro, strengthening by 0.18% to 78.32 pence and by 0.05% to 91.6 euro cents respectively.
However, it weakened against the yen, declining by 0.38% to change hands at JPY 141.44.
"US stock indices followed Asian and European indices lower as liquidity returned with US markets reopening after their long weekend," said IG senior market analyst Axel Rudolph.
"China's 10 basis point rate cut didn't revive sentiment with investors, instead focusing on tomorrow and Thursday's testimony by the Fed chair at the US senate banking committee."
Home construction soars past expectations; China cuts key lending rates
Data released earlier revealed that housing starts, when adjusted for seasonality, catapulted at a rate of 21.7% month-on-month in May.
The impressive upswing propelled the annual rate of new constructions to 1.631 million, notably surpassing the consensus forecast of 1.4 million.
April's pace had meanwhile been downwards revised to 1.34 million.
Earlier in the global day, China's central bank enacted notable cuts to two essential lending rates.
For the first time in nearly a year, the one-year loan prime rate was reduced by 10 basis points to settle at 3.55%.
Simultaneously, the five-year rate underwent a similar decrease, landing at 4.2% following a 10 basis points cut.
Eli Lilly rises on acquisition, Boeing slips despite new orders
In equity markets, Eli Lilly's shares appreciated by 0.95% following the company's announcement of a significant acquisition.
The pharmaceutical firm has agreed to purchase Dice Therapeutics in a deal worth $2.4 billion.
PayPal Holdings jumped 3.7% after announcing a partnership with global investment firm KKR.
The partnership aimed to launch buy now, pay later (BNPL) loans in the European market - an increasingly popular model for consumer spending.
On the downside, despite the announcement of a series of new orders for jets at the Paris Air Show, Boeing's shares suffered a 3.46% decline.
Market commentators speculated that the response might be a case of 'buy the rumour, sell the news.'
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
Dow Jones - Risers
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $216.97 2.46%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $469.39 2.38%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $110.23 0.83%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $301.41 0.34%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $185.01 0.05%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $164.13 -0.06%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $293.08 -0.22%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $228.59 -0.47%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $142.51 -0.51%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $35.00 -3.77%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $109.54 -3.57%
Boeing Co. (BA) $212.37 -3.46%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $51.92 -2.33%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $153.68 -2.28%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $330.72 -2.24%
3M Co. (MMM) $102.30 -2.14%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $35.81 -1.78%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $89.75 -1.72%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $241.15 -1.68%
S&P 500 - Risers
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $68.89 3.70%
FMC Technologies Inc. (FTI) $15.21 3.33%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $438.08 2.61%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $6.63 2.47%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $216.97 2.46%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $469.39 2.38%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $106.17 2.35%
PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) $74.87 1.86%
Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $232.22 1.77%
D. R. Horton Inc. (DHI) $118.32 1.65%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Fiserv Inc. (FI) $0.00 -100.00%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $8.95 -6.58%
CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $2.11 -6.22%
Borg Warner Inc. (BWA) $46.39 -4.55%
Celanese Corp. (CE) $108.82 -4.54%
Ball Corp (BALL) $56.00 -4.16%
Under Armour, Inc. (UA) $6.92 -3.89%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $7.53 -3.83%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $35.00 -3.77%
Phillips 66 Common Stock (PSX) $93.48 -3.76%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $274.45 5.34%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $68.89 3.70%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $438.08 2.61%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $6.63 2.47%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $106.17 2.35%
Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $284.33 1.19%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $82.04 1.03%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $106.92 0.99%
Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $225.98 0.65%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $434.70 0.63%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Fiserv Inc. (FI) $0.00 -100.00%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $37.17 -6.73%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $3.75 -4.82%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $35.00 -3.77%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $34.70 -3.61%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $39.12 -3.34%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $95.23 -3.27%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $16.75 -2.81%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $331.86 -2.75%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $62.58 -2.67%