US markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday

04 Feb 2016 Evaluate

The US markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday, as a big jump in oil prices lifted the energy and materials sectors, and battered financials reversed ugly losses. A tug of war between the rallying oil prices and a flurry of weaker-than-expected economic data, which was stoking fears of a slowdown in the US economy, resulted in seesawing trade. On the economy front, private-sector employment gains increased in January but at a slower pace than in the prior month. Employers added 205,000 jobs in January. ADP tweaked December’s gain to 267,000 from a prior estimate of 257,000. Overall job creation has remained fairly strong despite a slowdown in the pace of growth in the fourth quarter.

However, companies in the US service sector such as retail, banking and health care grew in January at the slowest pace in almost two years, adding to a drumbeat of data suggesting the economy has softened. The Institute for Supply Management stated that its nonmanufacturing index fell to 53.5% from 55.8% in December. Any number over 50% indicates more businesses are expanding instead of contracting, but the ISM service index has dropped three straight months and is at the lowest level since February 2014. The slowdown suggests that weakness among energy producers, manufacturers and major exporters may have spread to the much larger service side of the economy that employs the vast majority of Americans.

Meanwhile, two top US Federal Reserve officials stated that policymakers need to take into account tighter financial conditions when they meet next month to decide whether to raise US interest rates again. New York Fed president William Dudley stated that financial conditions are considerably tighter than in December, and if they remained in place by March, the FOMC would have to take that into consideration in terms of that monetary-policy decision. Fed Governor Lael Brainard expressed concern that stresses in emerging markets including China and slow growth in developed economies could spill over to the US. Brainard added that this translates into weaker exports, business investment, and manufacturing in the United States, slower progress on hitting the inflation target, and financial tightening through the exchange rate and rising risk spreads on financial assets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 183.12 points or 1.13 percent to 16,336.66, the S&P 500 was up by 9.50 points or 0.50 percent to 1,912.53 while the Nasdaq was down 12.71 points or 0.28 percent to 4,504.24.

The Indian ADRs closed mostly in red; HDFC Bank was down 0.47%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was down 0.25% and ICICI Bank was down 0.04%.On the other hand, Infosys was up by 0.09% and Tata Motors was up 0.07%.

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