US stocks: Wall Street ebbs as debt-limit clouds loom – Times of India

New York: wall StreetKey indexes ended with losses on Wednesday as talks between the White House and Republican representatives on raising the US debt ceiling dragged on without a deal.
The lack of progress on raising the US government’s $31.4 trillion debt limit before a June 1 deadline, coupled with several rounds of inconclusive talks, has investors looming large as the risk of a catastrophic default.
Interlocutors for Democratic President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy called the White House productive talks.
“As of yesterday, investors have been very bullish on the US debt ceiling resolution,” said Angelo Kourkafas, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones. “But now as we get closer to the June 1st ex-date, we are again seeing some caution.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 255.59 points, or 0.77%, to 32,799.92, the S&P 500 fell 30.34 points, or 0.73%, to 4,115.24 and nasdaq The Composite closed down 76.08 points, or 0.61%, at 12,484.16.
Ten of the 11 S&P 500 sectors ended in negative territory, with real estate falling the most. Energy was the only sector gainer.
The CBOE Volatility Index, known as Wall Street’s fear gauge, hit its highest level in nearly three weeks.
Federal Reserve policy was also in focus. Shares fell after the Fed’s May 2-3 meeting minutes were released, indicating that Fed officials were “generally agreed” last month that the need for further interest rate hikes “had become less certain.” “
Investors expect the central bank to pause its aggressive rate hike campaign at its June 13-14 meeting.
Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he is concerned about the lack of progress on inflation, and while it may be possible to skip an interest rate hike at the central bank’s meeting next month, the hiking campaign is unlikely to end.
“The economy is still doing well, and there’s really no reason from the Fed’s perspective to pull back on tighter monetary policy,” said Paul Nolte, senior wealth advisor and market strategist at Murphy & Sylvest Wealth Management.
In company news, shares of Citigroup Inc fell 3.1% after the bank canceled a $7 billion sale of Mexican consumer unit Banamex and would instead list it.
Shares of Agilent Technologies Inc declined nearly 6% after the company cut its annual sales and profit forecasts.
Shares of TurboTax owner Intuit Inc fell 7.5% after a disappointing profit forecast.
Issues declining compared to issues advancing on the NYSE by a 3.71-to-1 ratio; On the Nasdaq, a 2.34-to-1 ratio favored declines.
The S&P 500 posted no new 52-week highs and 14 new lows; The Nasdaq Composite recorded 38 new highs and 110 new lows.
About 9.7 billion shares changed hands on US exchanges, compared to a daily average of 10.5 billion over the past 20 sessions.