Wall Street Stocks Finish Mixed as US Debt Default Risk Lingers

Wall Street stocks were mixed on Tuesday after a choppy session, as markets weighed the remaining risk of a US debt default following the White House’s deal with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

After rallying Friday in anticipation of a deal, markets were muted as far-right Republicans in the House came out against the deal.

“McCarthy still has some difficult math to do to get this through the House,” said Art Hogan, an analyst at B. Riley Financial.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.2 percent at 33,042.78.

The broad-based S&P 500 was flat at 4,205.52, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.3 percent to 13,017.43.

While investors’ underlying belief has been that the United States will avoid default, markets have been pressured in recent weeks by growing fears that an agreement will not be reached in time.

Edward Moya of OANDA said, “It won’t take much to disrupt this loan deal, but there remains optimism that Congress will not put the economy at risk of unnecessary havoc.”

Data from the Conference Board showed US consumer confidence dipped in May, with people being dragged down by a slump in the job market.

A slight drop in consumer confidence will provide the Federal Reserve with a useful data point on how consumers view the economy as it considers raising interest rates again to control rising prices.

In individual equities, chip company Nvidia gained 3.0 percent, pushing its valuation below $1 trillion after topping the benchmark earlier.

The jump in Nvidia shares comes amid growing confidence in new generative AI breakthroughs capable of delivering the computing heat needed to churn out complex content from data centers around the world.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – AFP,