Major US stock indexes finished trading below the zero mark

Major US stock indices moderately decreased on Wednesday amid uncertainty caused by the growth of geopolitical tensions and the upcoming season of corporate reporting.

Corporate reports for the first quarter are likely to be the next catalyst for the market, as investors focused on the fundamentals of companies, hoping to find justification for high valuation on Wall Street. Large banks unofficially open the reporting season on Thursday. On this day, JPMorgan (JPM), Citigroup (C) and Wells Fargo (WFC) should disclose their financial results.

In addition, as it became known, import prices fell by 0.2% in March after an increase of 1.4% compared to the previous 3 months. Until the beginning of the decline in March, prices for imported goods grew during the last 12 months, by 4.2% in the period from March 2016 to March 2017. On the contrary, import prices fell by 6.1% compared to the previous 12-month period.

Meanwhile, the US Treasury announced that the annual budget deficit in March remained near a 3-year high, as government spending increased, unlike revenues. State spending in March exceeded revenues by $ 176.2 billion. The budget deficit was $ 68.2 billion more than in March 2016.

Oil futures fell by about 1%, due to ambiguous data from the US Energy Ministry, which reflected a strong fall in oil reserves along with an increase in oil production to a maximum since August 2015. The US Energy Ministry reported that in the week of April 1-7, oil reserves fell by 2.2 million barrels to 533.4 million barrels, remaining near the upper mid-range limit for this time of year. The stock was expected to grow by 0.316 million barrels.

Most components of the DOW index finished trading in the red (20 of 30). Caterpillar Inc. shares fell more than others. (CAT, -2.35%). Leader of the growth were shares of NIKE, Inc. (NKE, + 0.98%).

Most sectors of the S & P index showed a negative trend. The sector of industrial goods fell most of all (-1.4%). The leader of growth was the utilities sector (+ 0.5%).

At closing:

DJIA -0.29% 20.592.11 -59.19

Nasdaq -0.52% 5,836.16 -30.61

S & P -0.37% 2,344.98 -8.80