Stock Market

US stock indices are falling on Tuesday ahead of speeches by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve (Fed) chief Jerome Powell.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average index was down 47.22 points (0.14 per cent) at 32683.98.

The Standard Poor's 500 fell 5.27 points (0.13%) to 3,935.32 points.

The Nasdaq Composite lost 22.53 points (0.17%) to 13355.01 points.

Also, the Fed Chief praised the measures taken by Congress to support the economy and hoped for a return to more normal conditions later this year as the COVID-19 vaccination campaign expands.

The pressure on equity markets comes from, among other things, reports that the US has not ruled out that AstraZeneca (LON:AZN), which reported the previous day that its vaccine against severe forms of coronavirus was 100% effective in a study, may have published outdated and incomplete data on the trials.

Meanwhile, exactly one year has passed since stock indices fell to their lowest point since the coronavirus outbreak. Since 23 March 2020, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones have added more than 75%, CNBC notes. The Nasdaq is up more than 90% and the Russell 2000 has jumped 126%.

Shares of GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME). are up 0.3% on expectations for the company's fourth-quarter 2020 reporting. Analysts polled by FactSet forecast that the company will report adjusted earnings of $1.35 per share on revenue of $2.2 billion after the close.

Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT). papers are up 1%. According to Bloomberg, the company is in talks to buy chat service Discord for more than $10 billion.

ViacomCBS Inc. shares fell 8.6% after the media company said it plans to raise $3 billion through a Class B common stock offering and convertible preferred shares.