The major US stock indexes closed mixed on Tuesday, while the Nasdaq Composite notched its fourth record close in a row, representing the longest stretch of record closes for the tech-heavy index since 1999. Beyond, Trump’s comments, which could add clarity to his legislative agenda, market participants are awaiting the kick off earnings season for some support for the recent rally in US stocks. The Atlanta Federal Reserve’s GDP Now forecast model showed that the US economy is on track to grow at a 2.9 percent annualized pace in the fourth quarter of 2016 following data that showed wholesale inventories recorded their biggest rise in two years in November.
On the economy front, a measure of small-business sentiment soared to the highest level since 2004 in December as owners overwhelmingly expect business conditions to improve under the new administration. The National Federation of Independent Business said its optimism index jumped 7.4 points to 105.8. Small-business owners have been jubilant since the presidential election. In November, NFIB’s index finally rose above its 42-year average of 98. The December jump breached the recent cycle high of 100.3 from late 2014 for the first time. Wholesale inventories in the US jumped 1% in November to mark the largest increase in two years and signaling an increase in production that’s likely to boost the government’s official scorecard for economic growth in the final three months of 2016. The rise in inventories was a tick higher than the preliminary reading. A decline in October was also much smaller than originally reported.
Meanwhile, job openings were little changed in November, but there were other signs of a stronger job market. There were 5.5 million openings on the last day of the month. That was 1.3% higher than October. The number of hires rose 1.1% to 5.2 million. The number of people who quit jobs voluntarily also rose, to 3.1 million. That was the second-highest level since before the recession. Quits are tracked as a measure of worker confidence in the ability to land another job. The ratio of the unemployed per job opening dipped to 1.3, from 1.4 in each of the prior three months.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 31.85 points or 0.16 percent to 19,855.53, Nasdaq gained 20.00 points or 0.36 percent to 5,551.82, while S&P 500 remained unchanged to 2,268.90.
The Indian ADRs closed mostly in green; HDFC Bank was up 1.16%, Tata Motors was up 0.89%, ICICI Bank was up 0.11% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab was up 0.07%. On the other hand, Infosys was down 0.18%.