The US markets closed higher on Wednesday, following President-elect Donald Trump’s press conference, with the Nasdaq notching its fifth straight record close in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed less than 50 points from the psychologically-important 20,000 mark. US President-elect Donald Trump held his first press conference since July. Investors also watched the confirmation hearings of Rex Tillerson, Trump’s nominee to head the State Department. Russia and China were major topics of discussion in the hearings.
In a measure of how uncertainty wasn’t alleviated by the news conference, the CBOE Volatility at one time rose more than 5%, though it remains well below its long-term average. Typically, the so-called ‘fear index’ has an inverse correlation with stocks. Investors will hear from several Fed officials over the next two days, including Chairwoman Janet Yellen, and retail sales data are due Friday. The World Bank forecast US economic growth to pick up to 2.2% this year from 1.6% in 2016. The WB noted in its Global Economic Prospects report that US economic policy is still being shaped. However, it said US fiscal or other stimulus policies could have a positive knock-on effect on global growth. The WB predicted global real GDP growth to accelerate to 2.7% this year from 2.3% in 2016.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 98.75 points or 0.50 percent to 19,954.28, Nasdaq gained 11.83 points or 0.21 percent to 5,563.65, while S&P 500 was up by 6.42 points or 0.28 percent to 2,275.32.
The Indian ADRs closed mostly in green; HDFC Bank was up 2.09%, Infosys was up 0.41%, Tata Motors was up 0.36% and ICICI Bank was up 0.17%. On the other hand, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was down 1.23%.