US markets closed lower; Nasdaq ekes out modest gains

20 Mar 2015 Evaluate

The US market closed mostly lower on Thursday, a day after Federal Reserve-inspired rally that sent the S&P 500 to its highest close in two weeks. The Fed, as expected, dropped its pledge to remain patient about raising rates, but signaled a slower increase in interest rates than it foresaw just a few months ago. On the economy front, the current account deficit widened to $113.5 billion in the 2014 fourth quarter from a revised $98.9 billion in the third quarter, mainly because of a decline in net primary income from outside the US. The deficit rose to 2.6% as a percentage of gross domestic product up from 2.2% in the prior quarter but well below the record of 6.3% in 2005. For all of 2014, the current-account deficit edged up to $410.6 billion from $400.3 billion in 2013. In both years that reflected 2.4% of GDP. Growth in factory activity in the US mid-Atlantic region fell for a fourth straight month in March to its lowest level in more than a year. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank stated that its business activity index slipped to 5.0 this month, the lowest since February 2014, from February’s 5.2.

Meanwhile, the number of people who applied for US unemployment benefits in mid-March remained below the key 300,000 threshold that signals a much improved labor market. Initial jobless claims edged up by a scant 1,000 to 291,000 in the seven days from March 8 to March 14. The four-week average smooth’s out sharp fluctuations in the more volatile weekly report and is seen as a more accurate predictor of labor-market trends. Also, the government stated that continuing claims decreased by 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 2.42 million in the week ended March 7. Continuing claims reflect the number of people already receiving benefits. Initial claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 290,000 from 289,000.

On the other hand, the leading economic index rose 0.2% in February in a sign that US economy should expand at a moderate rate in the months ahead. The coincident index, which measures current conditions, rose 0.2% in February. The lagging index increased 0.3%. The LEI is a weighted gauge of 10 indicators designed to signal business-cycle peaks and valleys.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 117.16 points or 0.65 percent to 17,959.03, S&P 500 was down by 10.23 points or 0.49 percent to 2,089.27 while, Nasdaq was up by 9.55 points or 0.19 percent to 4,992.38.

The Indian ADRs closed in red on Thursday; HDFC Bank was down 1.53%, Tata Motors was down 1.37%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was down 0.69%, ICICI Bank was down 0.38% and Infosys was down 0.22%.

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