The US markets closed higher on Thursday, after stronger-than-expected data outweighed worries over military escalation near Ukrainian border. On the economy front, the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits last week rose to the highest level in April, but most of the bump may have been related to a seasonal quirk tied to the Easter holiday. Initial jobless claims jumped by 24,000 to a seasonally adjusted 329,000 in the seven days ended April 19. The average of new claims over the past month, meanwhile, rose by 4,750 to 316,750. Yet just one week ago, the monthly average fell to a six-and-a-half-year low. Separately, orders for durable goods such as computers, aircraft and heavy machinery jumped 2.6% in March and posted the biggest gain in four months, offering another sign that the US economy might be on the upswing after a winter-induced lull. The increase in bookings for big-ticket items last month was the largest since November, with gains in every major category. Orders for computers and electronic products, for example, leaped 5.7% to mark the sharpest spike in almost 3 1/2 years.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average remained flat and stood at 16,501.65, the Nasdaq Composite was up by 21.37 points or 0.52 percent, to 4,148.34, while the S&P 500 gained 3.22 points or 0.17 percent, to close at 1,878.61.
The Indian ADRs closed mostly in green on Thursday; ICICI Bank was up 1.30%, HDFC Bank was up 0.52%, Infosys was up 0.30% and Tata Motors was up 0.11%. On the other hand, Wipro was down by 0.10%.