:::LALKAR GROUP::::

The US stocks moved further in negative territory on Thursday, 22 September 2022, dragging the Dow and the S&P 500 to three-month closing lows, while the Nasdaq slid to its lowest closing level in well over two months.

The weakness on Wall Street reflected continued concerns about the global economic growth outlook following the Federal Reserve's third straight 75 basis point interest rate hike on Wednesday along with the Bank of England interest rates hike by 50 basis points in a split decision.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index dropped 107.10 points, or 0.35%, to 30,076.68. The S&P500 index declined 31.94 points, or 0.84%, to 3,757.99. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 153.39 points, or 1.37%, to 11,066.81.

Most of the S&P 500 sectors finished the session in negative territory, with shares in retailers, consumer goods, financials, realty, industrials, and materials issues being notable losers.

Among individual stocks, Merck shares advanced after a U.S. District Court ruled in the company's favor in a patent infringement suit against Viatris related to sitagliptin, an active ingredient in Januvia.

Salesforce shares surged after the business software giant unveiled a plan to operate more efficiently and increase profit margins.

ECONOMIC NEWS: The Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing initial jobless claims inched up to 213,000, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 208,000.

Meanwhile, the Conference Board released a separate report showing its leading economic index fell by 0.3% in August after sliding by a revised 0.5% in July.

Among Indian ADR, ICICI Bank fell 1.3% to $22.27, Azure Power Global added 2.7% to $6.51, HDFC Bank fell 4.3% to $61.21, Tata Motors unchanged at $26.25, and Dr Reddy's Labs rose 0.2% to $51.32. WNS Holdings fell 1% to $81.37 and Wipro dropped 2% to $4.81. INFOSYS was down 2% to $16.68.