US markets closed mostly lower on Trump diplomacy woes

03 Feb 2017 Evaluate

The US markets closed mostly lower on Thursday, as concerns about President Donald Trump’s approach on foreign affairs amid spats with key allies and trade partners casted a pall over the market. The political actions appeared to command attention away from market fundamentals and the economy. Late Wednesday, the White House delivered a rebuke to Iran over a recent ballistic missile test, warning that the country could face new sanctions. Trump also reportedly told Mexico that he might send US troops to the country to stop bad hombres.

On the economy front, the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits in the week stretching from January 22 to January 28 fell by 14,000 to 246,000, an extremely low level that might foreshadow another solid employment report in the first month of the New Year. New claims have tallied less than 300,000 for 100 straight weeks, a streak that last occurred in 1970. The economy had created more than 2 million jobs for six straight years, forcing many companies to scramble to find talented workers amid a shrinking pool of labor. The less volatile four-week average of initial claims, meanwhile, rose by 2,250 to 248,000. Continuing jobless claims declined by 39,000 to 2.06 million in the week ended January 21.

Meanwhile, American companies and their workers were more productive in the fourth quarter, but labor costs rose at the fastest pace in 2016 in nine years, a potential warning sign for hiring and economic growth. Productivity increased at an annual 1.3% pace in the three months covering October to December. Third-quarter productivity was also raised to 3.5% from 3.1%. Output of goods and services - the stuff workers make or provide - advanced 2.2%. The amount of time employees worked rose 0.9%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 6.03 points or 0.03 percent to 19,884.91, Nasdaq was down 6.45 points or 0.11 percent to 5,636.20, while S&P 500 was up by 1.3 points or 0.06 percent to 2,280.85.

The Indian ADRs closed mostly in green; Dr. Reddy’s Lab was up 1.35%, Infosys was up 0.16% and ICICI Bank was up 0.13%. On the other hand, Tata Motors was down 0.39% and HDFC Bank was down 0.03%.

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