US markets closed lower on weak economic data

04 Apr 2017 Evaluate

The US markets closed lower on Monday, but off the session lows to kick off the second quarter, as disappointing vehicle sales and lackluster economic data amplified concerns that lofty equity valuations won’t be buttressed by commensurately strong corporate quarterly results in coming weeks. On the economy front, vehicle sales in March fell to the lowest level in more than two years, hit by factors including the widening price gap between new and used autos as well as rising interest rates and a slowing of the replacement cycle. According to Autodata, vehicle sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 16.62 million, down from 17.58 million in February. The annual rate reached 18.54 million in December and has fallen since. The Autodata figures showed declines in the rates of both new car and light truck sales, foreign and domestic.

Additionally, the Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index fell slightly to 57.2% last month from 57.7% in February. Most manufacturers are also adding workers or asking them to work longer, pushing up the employment index to 58.9%. That’s the highest level since the middle of 2011. Despite the generally sunny outlook, production did slow down. The production index dropped 5.3 points to 57.6%. A similar manufacturing survey from IHS Markit, also reflected a cutback in production. The Markit index was somewhat more negative, suggesting that the manufacturing index might be losing some steam. The Markit manufacturing PMI fell to a six-month low of 53.3 in March, down from 54.2 in February.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said that the Federal Reserve should plan to raise interest rates twice more this year so to avoid getting behind the curve but also to avoid rushing its tightening plans. Harker said that the Federal Reserve could begin shrinking its portfolio of bonds as soon as this year, adding his voice to a growing number of colleagues warning they could promptly wind down a crisis-era policy. Separately, the Atlanta Federal Reserve's GDP Now forecast model showed that the US economy is on track to expand at a 1.2 percent annualized pace in the first quarter following the release of data on manufacturing activity in March. The latest first-quarter gross domestic product estimate was faster than the 0.9 percent growth rate calculated last Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 13.01 points or 0.06 percent to 20,650.21, the Nasdaq was down 17.06 points or 0.29 percent to 5,894.68, while S&P 500 dropped 3.88 points or 0.16 percent to 2,358.84.

The Indian ADRs closed mostly in green; HDFC Bank was up 3.50%, Tata Motors was up 1.01%, Infosys was up 0.52% and Wipro was up 0.34%. On the other hand, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was down 2.93%.

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