The US markets closed mostly lower on Monday, sending the Nasdaq Composite Index near a one-month low, with losses led by technology and small-cap stocks, as investors continued to unload riskier position ahead of this week’s pivotal Federal Reserve policy meeting. The speculation that the central bank may adopt a more hawkish tone in its statement after the two-day meeting on Wednesday had been weighing on stock prices since the beginning of the month. On the economy front, industrial production declined 0.1% in August to mark the first decline since January, and a series of revisions left output in July lower than previously estimated. Capacity utilization fell to 78.8% from 79.1%, as motor vehicle and part utilization fell back, to 81.4% from 88.2%.
On the other hand, an index of manufacturing activity in the New York region strengthened to a near-five-year high in September. The New York Fed’s Empire State general business conditions index rose to 27.5, the highest level since October 2009. The index regained all of the ground it lost in August when it fell to 14.7 from 25.6 in July. The Empire State index is often the first of several regional manufacturing gauges to be released.
Nasdaq was down by 48.70 points or 1.07 percent to 4,518.90, the S&P 500 ended lower by 1.41 points or 0.07 percent to 1,984.13, while Dow Jones Industrial Average added 43.63 points or 0.26 percent to 17,031.14.
The Indian ADRs closed in red on Monday; Infosys was down 0.58%, HDFC Bank was down by 0.47%, ICICI Bank was down 0.36%, Tata Motors was down by 0.28% and Wipro was down by 0.17%.