US markets gain as February retail sales beat expectations

14 Mar 2013 Evaluate

The US markets closed higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average claiming its longest winning streak in more than 16 years after February retail sales beat expectations. The retail report is the latest in a string of data that suggest the economy remains on a moderate growth path. US consumers spent more at retail stores in February, and while a big chunk of change went to fill up gas tanks, they also spread their cash around in a sign they are not tapped out. Retail sales advanced 1.1% in February to mark the biggest gain in five months. The figures suggest that consumer spending - the linchpin of the economy - is holding steady despite a spike in gasoline prices and higher payroll taxes in 2013.

On the other hand, prices paid for goods imported into the US surged 1.1% in February for the second straight month, led by higher fuel prices. This is the largest increase in overall import price index and fuel imports since August. Separately, Business inventories jumped 1.0% in January to a seasonally adjusted $1.64 trillion, the Commerce Department stated. As a result, the ratio of inventories to sales rose to 1.29 from 1.26 in December. December's inventories growth was revised up to 0.3% from an initial reading of a 0.1% increase.

Meanwhile, the Budget plan unveiled by Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray offers up some modest spending cuts and seeks nearly $1 trillion in new tax revenue, but leaves major government programs largely unchanged - a stark contrast to Republican Paul Ryan's radical revamp of healthcare benefits in an effort to slash deficits to zero by 2023. Murray's plan, which is expected to be passed by the Senate Budget Committee this week, showed that deficits would average 2.4% of economic output through 2023. Under the assumptions used in Murray's budget, the fiscal 2013 deficit is forecast at $891 billion, or 5.6% of gross domestic product. Besides, a proposal by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas to limit government support for banks could force JPMorgan Chase & Company (JPM) and Bank of America Corporation to shrink their US consumer and commercial-lending units by more than half. The plan would cap assets at deposit-insured divisions of the largest US financial firms at about $250 billion and wall off investment banking from traditional lending, Dallas Fed Executive Vice President Harvey Rosenblum stated. The limit is needed to allow the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to shut a failed bank without using taxpayer funds.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 5.22 points or 0.04 percent to 14,455.30, the S&P 500 added 2.04 points or 0.13 percent to 1,554.52 and the Nasdaq inched up 2.80 points or 0.09 percent to 3,245.12.

The Indian ADRs closed mostly in red on Wednesday, ICICI Bank was down 1.41%, Tata Motors was down 0.65% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab was down 0.21%. On the other hand, Infosys was up by 0.18% and Tata Communications was up 0.15%.

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