The US stock market finished lower once again with both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 falling over 1% and the Nasdaq a more resilient 0.9%.
The sell-off came after the release of the Federal Reserve’s minutes which suggested that the Board were in agreement that tapering of bond purchases of QE would need to occur in 2021. This despite the clear weakness expending in the economy as the Delta variant spreads.
Home construction slowed by 7% in July, further evidencing the issues that lie ahead.
Target beats as Cisco grows
Similarly to Australia, Target (NYSE: TGT) shares fell 2.8% after reporting that same-store sales growth had slowed to 8.9% from higher levels during the pandemic. Revenue was up 9.5% for the full year, with digital sales up double figures as well. It is clear that consumers are turning back to service spending, at least in the US.
Elsewhere, shares in computer networking system Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) fell after the company reported an 8% rise in revenue, the majority from product sales, whilst NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) is set to report after the bell.
US stock market movers
Here’s how other popular US shares traded on Wednesday.
- Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) up 9.6%
- Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) up 6.7%
- Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) up 3.5%
- Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) down 2.6%
- Pinterest (NYSE: PINS) down 3.5%
- Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) down 3.8%
The negative US lead is expected to send the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) lower when the market opens on Thursday. For a round-up of the major results, check out Rask Media’s ASX 200 morning report.
ASX reporting season continues today, with the likes of Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG), Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) and Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL) set to report.