The US markets closed higher on Wednesday, for a second straight session, with the S&P 500 posting its highest close in nearly a month on the back of a rally in energy and materials shares. A combination of stronger crude prices and mounting expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this summer helped buoy sentiment. Investors shrugged off a report that showed the nation’s trade deficit widened in April, as imports increased faster than exports. The trade gap in goods - services are excluded - rose to $57.5 billion last month from a final reading of $57.1 billion. The Commerce Department originally reported a $55.6 billion goods gap in March. The rise in the goods deficit was lower than Wall Street expected, a sign that trade isn’t becoming an even bigger albatross for the economy. Still, a higher deficit subtracts from gross domestic product - the most complete measure of an economy’s overall health. GDP is forecast to accelerate in the second quarter to a 2.6% pace from a preliminary 0.5% in the first quarter, though probably with little or no help from trade unless the deficit drops in the final two months of the quarter. Imports of goods rose an unadjusted 1.9% compared to the final tally in March. US goods exports advanced at 2.4% clip. The total trade deficit in March was $40.4 billion, a decline of almost 14% from the prior month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 145.46 points or 0.82 percent to 17,851.51, Nasdaq was up by 33.83 points or 0.70 percent to 4,894.89, while S&P 500 gained 14.48 points or 0.70 percent to 2,090.54.
The Indian ADRs closed in green; HDFC Bank was up 1.04%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was up 0.92%, Tata Motors was up 0.67%, ICICI Bank was up 0.33% and Infosys was up 0.22%.