US markets closed flat amid weak economic report

25 Apr 2013 Evaluate

The US markets closed mostly flat on Wednesday, but the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for the first session in four, dragged lower by steep declines in Procter & Gamble Company and AT&T Inc. Procter & Gamble sank after the consumer-products company’s full-year earnings outlook fell short of estimate. AT&T Inc. dropped after the telephone company reported a larger-than-expected sales decline in the first quarter. On the economy front, orders for big-ticket items posted the biggest drop in March since last summer, mainly because of fewer jetliner bookings, but the generally soft report added to mounting evidence that the US economy has slowed again. Orders for durable goods fell a seasonally adjusted 5.7% last month to mark the biggest drop since last August. The decline in orders is the latest in a string of reports that suggest the manufacturing sector cooled off a bit toward the end of the first quarter - along with the broader economy.

Meanwhile, Federal regulators will detail threats to financial stability, with expectations that concerns will focus on high-speed computerized trading, money-market funds and bank vulnerabilities in today’s low-interest rate environment. The recommendations will be released by the Financial Stability Oversight Council, which is a multi-agency panel charged with identifying risks to the economy to Congress.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 43.16 points or 0.29 percent at 14,676.30, the S&P 500 gained 0.01 points to 1,578.79 and the Nasdaq added 0.32 points or 0.01 percent to 3,269.65.

Indian ADRs closed mostly in green on Wednesday, HDFC Bank was up by 0.82%, ICICI Bank was up by 0.47% and Sterlite Industries was up 0.09%. On the flip side, Infosys was down 0.37% and Tata Motors was down 0.12%.

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