US markets ended mildly in red on Thursday on getting some disappointing economic data. There was uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following the upward move seen over the past two weeks and traders even overlooked some upbeat earnings news from Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and UnitedHealth. On the economy front the Commerce Department reported a much smaller than expected rebound in housing starts, stating that the housing starts rose 2.0 percent to an annual rate of 926,000 in March. The Commerce Department also said building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, fell 5.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.039 million in March. However, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported that its index of regional manufacturing activity rose more than expected in April.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 6.84 points 0.04% to 18,105.77, the Nasdaq ended lower by 3.23 points or 0.06 percent to 5,007.79 and the S&P 500 was lower by 1.64 points or 0.08 percent to 2,104.99.
Indian ADRs made a negative close on Thursday; Dr Reddy’s Lab was down by 0.45%, HDFC Bank was down by 0.09%, ICICI Bank was down by 0.01%, Wipro was down by 0.06% and Infosys was down by 0.84%.