US markets closed higher as oil prices rebound

30 Dec 2015 Evaluate

The US markets closed higher on Tuesday, as a rebound in oil prices helped reinvigorate bullish sentiment on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished near session highs, posting a triple-digit point gain, while the S&P 500 index scored solid broad-based gains, propelling the index to a 1% annual gain with a two sessions of trading left in 2015. On the economy front, consumer confidence had a somewhat stronger tone in December. The consumer confidence index rose to 96.5. In addition, confidence in November was revised higher to 92.6 in November from 90.4, which was the lowest level in more than a year. Confidence has been trending lower since September, when the index stood at 102.6. The present situation index, a measure of current conditions, increased to 115.3 from 110.9. The future expectations index increased to 83.9 from 80.4. US home price gains quickened in October, and several cities saw double-digit growth. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite index rose 0.1% for the three-month period ending in October, for a 5.5% yearly gain. That was stronger than the 5.4% annual growth notched in September’s reading and the fastest annual reading since August 2014, when prices climbed 5.6%. Twelve metros had higher annual readings in October than they had in September. Prices in Denver, Portland, and San Francisco climbed 10.9% to lead the group. The weakest showing was a 1.3% annual increase in Chicago, followed by 1.7% in Washington.

Meanwhile, the US goods trade deficit narrowed slightly in November, as both exports and imports weakened. The trade gap narrowed 1.3% in November to $60.5 billion from a revised $61.3 billion in October. Exports of goods shrank 2% to $121 billion in November with broad-based declines across sectors. Imports dropped 1.8% to $181.5 billion, with the drop concentrated in consumer goods. The strong dollar and weakness in major global economies has hit the trade sector hard.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 192.71 points or 1.10 percent to 17,720.98, the Nasdaq was up 66.95 points or 1.33 percent to 5,107.94 and the S&P 500 gained 21.86 points or 1.06 percent to 2,078.36.

The Indian ADRs closed mostly in green; Dr. Reddy’s Lab was up by 0.70%, HDFC Bank was up 0.63%, Infosys was up 0.11% and Tata Motors was up by 0.05%. On the other hand, ICICI Bank was down by 0.04%.



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