US markets slip as consumer confidence edges lower

28 Mar 2012 Evaluate

The US markets closed lower on Tuesday, as Wall Street offered muted reaction to the day’s economic data and took a break after the past months’ rally. The Conference Board’s confidence index fell to 70.2 in March from a revised 71.6 reading the prior month. A gauge of consumer confidence declined in March due to lower employment expectations, while views on the present situation rose to the highest level since 2008. Ahead of Wall Street’s opening, data showed home prices in 20 major US metropolitan areas falling at a slower rate in January, illustrating stabilization in the housing market. US home prices fell for the fifth month in a row in January to the lowest level since early 2003, according to a closely followed index. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite index dropped 0.8% in the first month of 2012.

In Europe, Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that Germany may back plans for the temporary and permanent euro-area rescue funds to run in parallel. Merkel added that permanent bailout will be capped at €500 billion but the temporary fund will be allowed to be in existence till the borrowing nations repay. This will allow the total available capital for bailout to increase to €690 billion. European finance ministers will meet on March 30 to discuss raising a 500 billion-euro ($664 billion) ceiling on the region’s financial firewall. Also, a measure of French sentiment jumped to 87 in March from 82 in February, national statistics office Insee reported which is the highest since July.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower by 43.90 points, or 0.33 percent, at 13,197.70. The S&P 500 lost 3.99 points, or 0.28 percent, at 1,412.52, while the Nasdaq was down by 2.22 points, or 0.07 percent, at 3,120.35.

Indian ADRs closed mixed on Tuesday, ICICI Bank was down 0.25% and Tata Motors was down 0.16%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank was up 0.51%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was up 0.40% and Infosys Technologies was up 0.16%.

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