Major US stock indexes finished trading below the zero mark

Major US stock indexes finished the session below zero amid mixed data on the US. Meanwhile, in the 1st quarter the indices of the S & P 500 and Dow Jones showed the strongest dynamics in four years. Wall Street has achieved a series of record highs since the election of President Trump against the backdrop of the fact that he promised to reduce taxes and increase spending on infrastructure.

As it became known today, consumer spending in the US rose slightly in February amid delays in the payment of income tax, but the largest annual inflation rate for almost five years confirmed expectations for further rate hikes this year. The Ministry of Commerce reported that consumer spending rose 0.1%. This was the smallest increase since August and followed the 0.2% growth in January. In addition, the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index stabilized at 57.7 in March after a significant increase of 7.1 points in February to 57.4. On average, the index for the first quarter was 55.1, which is the highest since the fourth quarter of 2014. However, the final results of the studies submitted by Thomson-Reuters and the Michigan Institute showed that in March the consumer sentiment index rose to 96.9 points compared with the final reading for February 96.3 points and the preliminary value for March 97.6 points . It was predicted that the index will be 97.6 points.

The components of the DOW index mostly decreased (19 out of 30). Exxon Mobil Corporation shares dropped the most (XOM, -1.90%). The leader of growth was shares of Intel Corporation (INTC, + 0.98%).

Most sectors of the S & P index closed in positive territory. The financial sector fell most of all (-0.3%). The growth leader was the conglomerate sector (+ 0.6%).

At closing:

Dow -0.32% 20.662.60 -65.89

Nasdaq -0.04% 5,911.74 -2.60

S & P -0.23% 2,362.69 -5.37