Extending their previous session rally, US markets ended modestly in green on Friday with Nasdaq ending the session at a new record closing high. The strong gain posted by the Nasdaq was partly due to a rally by shares of Microsoft (MSFT), after the company reported better than expected third quarter results after the close of trading on Thursday. Sentiments also remained up-beat on report showing a sharp increase in durable goods orders, although the jump was primarily due to strength in the volatile transportation sector. The report said durable goods orders surged up by 4.0 percent in March after slumping by 1.4 percent in February. The street had expected orders to edge up by just 0.5 percent. However, excluding a 13.5 percent jump in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders actually fell by 0.2 percent in March compared to a 1.3 percent drop in the previous month. Nonetheless, overall trading activity was somewhat subdued on the day as traders looked ahead to next week's Federal Reserve meeting. The Fed is not expected to announce an increase in interest rates, but traders will be paying close attention for any hints at a rate hike at the June meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 21.45 points or 0.12 percent to 18,080.14 and the S&P 500 edged up 4.76 points or 0.23 percent to 2,117.69, while the Nasdaq ended higher at 17.03 points or 0.23 percent to 7,070.70.
The Indian ADRs ended mostly in red on Friday, Infosys was 3.15%, Dr Reddy’s lab was down by 0.83%, Wipro was lower by 0.31% and HDFC Bank was down by 0.18%. On the other hand, Tata Motors was up by 0.35%.