US markets closed near record high levels

05 Jan 2017 Evaluate

The US markets closed higher on Wednesday, just shy of record levels, following the release of the Federal Reserve’s policy minutes from its December meeting and a strong showing in auto sales. Federal Reserve officials saw the possibility that they might have to raise interest rates faster than the gradual pace that they have stressed for some time. The accounts of the meeting suggest that an era of a predictable and boring US central bank may be over. By a unanimous vote on December 14, the Fed raised its federal-funds range by a quarter-percentage point to 0.50%-0.75%, its second rate increase in a decade. At the same time, Fed officials said economic conditions will warrant only gradual increases in the federal-funds rate. In the so-called dot plot, Fed officials penciled in three quarter-point rate increases in 2017 instead of two seen in September. Minutes of the meeting showed many Fed officials thought this gradual policy path was under threat. The biggest risk was that the unemployment rate might drop sharply below the 4.5% jobless rate viewed as the longer-run normal level below which might spark inflation. The unemployment rate is almost at that level having dropped to 4.6% in November. According to minutes of the December meeting released, many Fed officials judged the risk of a sizable undershooting of the normal jobless rate had increased somewhat and that the Federal Open Market Committee might need to raise the federal-funds rate more quickly than currently anticipated to limit the degree of undershooting and stem a potential buildup of inflationary pressures.

On the economy front, auto makers rolled out stronger-than-expected December US sales results, amid robust demand for trucks and hefty year-end incentives, boosting the annual tally for 2016 to a record. It is the seventh year of growth with full-year sales rising 0.4% to 17.55 million in 2016; up from the previous record tally of 17.5 million in 2015. US light-vehicle sales for December rose 3.1% from a year ago. The month had one fewer selling day than December 2015. New-car prices have increased by $521 -- or 1.5% -- from December 2015, thanks to a shift in consumer demand from cars to pricier crossovers, trucks and SUVs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 60.4 points or 0.30 percent to 19,942.16, Nasdaq gained 47.93 points or 0.88 percent to 5,477.01 and S&P 500 was up by 12.92 points or 0.57 percent to 2,270.75.

The Indian ADRs closed mostly in green; Dr. Reddy’s Lab was up 0.50%, Tata Motors was up 0.43%, Infosys was up 0.39% and Wipro was up 0.24%. On the other hand, ICICI Bank was down 0.05%.

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