Stocks lose ground

Wall Street lost ground on Tuesday as economic uncertainties and the increasing likelihood of a corporate tax rate hike dampened investor sentiment and prompted a broad sell-off despite signs of easing inflation. Optimism faded throughout the session, reversing an initial rally following the Labor Department’s consumer price index report. All three major U.S. stock indexes ended in negative territory in a reminder that September is a historically rough month for stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 292.06 points, or 0.84%, to 34,577.57; the S&P 500 lost 25.68 points, or 0.57%, at 4,443.05; and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 67.82 points, or 0.45%, to 15,037.76.

European stocks ended flat on Tuesday, with miners, banks and luxury stocks leading declines as optimism over cooling U.S. inflation growth in August proved to be short-lived. The region-wide STOXX 600 index inched 0.01% lower, with the basic resources sector index dropping 1.9% and banks sliding 1.1%.Luxury stocks, including LVMH, Kering, Richemont and Burberry, fell between 1.9% and 3%, tracking moves in Asia on concerns about the spread of COVID-19 cases in China.

Maltese markets also ended lower, with the MSE Equity Total Return Index closing down 0.46 points. Simonds Farsons Cisk Plc led the losses with shares dropping 3.03% to €8.00 on a single trade of 8 shares. GO plc followed behind, losing 2.35% to close at €3.32. Harvest Technologies plc was the third stock to record a change in price, dropping 1.96% to €1.50.

Sources: Reuters, Malta Stock Exchange

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