US markets rallied on Friday with Dow settling at a new all-time high and Nasdaq and S&P trimming their weekly losses. Though trade remained lackluster throughout the day but last hour surge took the markets higher on rebound in technology shares and traders looked past escalating tensions in Ukraine. Traders also got some support with signs that the European Central Bank will introduce stimulus in June and with some positive news from US macro front. US wholesale inventories rose more than expected in March. According to the Commerce Department, inventories rose 1.1 percent in March, while, they were up by a revised 0.7 percent in February, a bit higher than the prior 0.5 percent reading.
Meanwhile, Pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine ignored a public call by Russian President Vladimir Putin to postpone a referendum on self-rule and said they plan to go ahead on Sunday with a vote that some fear could lead to a civil war.
The Dow Industrial Average rose 32.37 points or 0.20 percent, to close at 16,583.34. The S&P 500 rose 2.85 points or 0.15 percent, to 1,878.48 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 20.37 points, or 0.50 percent, to 4,071.87.
The Indian ADRs closed mostly in green on Friday, HDFC Bank was up by 1.99%, ICICI Bank was up by 3.90%, Wipro was up by 0.19%, Tata Motors was up by 0.16% and Infy was up by 1.07%.