The US markets closed mostly higher on Friday, posting the biggest monthly gains since February, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average finishing the month at records high. On the economy front, Chicago PMI accelerated in May to 65.5 from 63.0 in April. It is the highest level of the PMI since October. Order-backlogs rose to a three-year high in May, while new orders rose slightly. Any reading over 50 indicates expansion. However, consumer spending in the US fell in April - the first decline in a year - as Americans cut back on car purchases and spent less on utilities such as natural gas and electricity as the weather warmed up. Meanwhile, inflation pressures continued to build last month. Consumer spending slipped a seasonally adjusted 0.1% last month, Personal incomes, meanwhile, rose 0.3% in April, but that was the smallest gain so far in 2014. Wages rose, and Americans also received more interest income and dividend payments.
Meanwhile, consumers grew more concerned this month about current and coming economic conditions, with a gauge of their sentiment dropping on worries about wages. The overall consumer-sentiment barometer fell to a final May reading of 81.9 from a final April level of 84.1. Details of the sentiment data show that a gauge of consumers’ views on current conditions dropped to 94.5 in May from 98.7 in April. Meanwhile, a barometer of their economic expectations declined to 73.7 from 74.7.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 18.43 points or 0.11 percent, to 16,717.17, the S&P 500 gained 3.54 points or 0.18 percent, to close at 1,923.57 while, the Nasdaq Composite lost 5.33 points or 0.13 percent, to 4,242.62.
The Indian ADRs closed mostly in red on Friday; ICICI Bank was down by 1.10%, HDFC Bank was down 0.86% and Tata Motors was down 0.43%. On the other hand, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was up by 1.05% and Infosys was up 0.68%.