US markets advance; S&P 500 closes at record high

30 Apr 2013 Evaluate

The US markets edged higher on Monday, lifting the S&P 500 to a record close, as investors embraced the latest corporate earnings reports. The technology shares were up most, bolstered by Apple Inc. On the economy front, consumers were more cautious spenders in March and income growth also softened, reinforcing a bevy of reports that indicate the US economy slowed as the spring began. The Commerce Department stated that the consumer spending rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2% last month, down from 0.7% in February. It was the smallest gain in three months. Besides, pending sales of homes rose 1.5% in March, reversing February’s decline. The pending-home-sales index increased to 105.7 in March from 104.1 in February, and was up 7% from March 2012. NAR revised US pending home sales for February to a decline of 1% from a prior estimate of a 0.4% slip.

Meanwhile, policy makers at the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve are gathering separately this week, with the Fed expected to continue its current stimulus. US central bankers are unlikely to continue their recent talk of tapering down interest rates, given the recent softness in domestic economic data. Separately, in another sign of an improving deficit picture, the Treasury stated that it expects to pay off debt in the current quarter for the first time in six years. In a statement, Treasury added that it now expects to pay off $35 billion of debt in the April-to-June quarter, compared to an earlier projection, given in February, that it would have to borrow $103 billion. This will be the first quarter that Treasury has paid off debt since April-to-June period 2007.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 106.20 points or 0.72 percent at 14,818.80, the S&P 500 added 11.37 points or 0.72 percent to 1,593.61 and the Nasdaq added 27.76 points or 0.85 percent to 3,307.02.

Indian ADRs closed in green on Monday, Infosys was up 0.71%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was up 0.45%, Tata Motors was up 0.40%, Sterlite Industries was up 0.19% and Tata Communications was up 0.13%.

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