US stocks end lower as debt ceiling talks are paused
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The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.1 per cent to 4,191.98, while the Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.2 per cent to 12,657.90.
PHOTO: AFP
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NEW YORK - Wall Street stocks dropped on Friday after negotiations to avert a United States debt default were suspended, ending a two-session rally.
“We’ve got to pause,” House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters.
Equities had risen the last two days and pushed higher early on Friday on optimism about the talks.
But stocks went negative as news of the trouble hit, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending at 33,426.63.
The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.1 per cent to 4,191.98, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.2 per cent to 12,657.90.
Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare said the modesty of the losses represents “an expression of the market’s underlying belief that something will eventually get done without a default”.
Republicans continue to insist President Joe Biden must sign up to spending cuts in exchange for their support to raise the debt ceiling, ignoring repeated Democratic calls for a “clean” increase of the borrowing limit with no strings attached.
Regional bank shares were under pressure again, with Comerica, Zions Bancorporation and KeyCorp all losing more than one per cent.
Foot Locker plummeted more than 27 per cent as it reported a 73 per cent drop in quarterly earnings to US$36 million (S$48 million) and warned that sales “softened meaningfully given the tough macroeconomic backdrop”, forcing “aggressive” markdowns. AFP
