US markets close with modest losses

24 May 2013 Evaluate

The US markets ended modestly lower on Thursday, paring substantial intraday losses after upbeat US economic reports countered worries about the Federal Reserve potentially tapering its bond-buying program. The number of people who applied for new unemployment benefits fell by 23,000 to 340,000 in the week ended May 18, keeping the level of initial claims in a range consistent with modest job growth. The Labor Department stated that average of new claims over the past month, a more reliable gauge than the volatile weekly number, edged down by 500 to 339,500. Separately, sales of new US homes edged up in April to the second-highest post-recession level, as pent-up demand, low interest rates and tight inventories of older homes lifted demand. New-home sales reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 454,000, up 2.3% from an upwardly revised level of 444,000 in March. April’s gain represents a 29% improvement from the same period of 2012.

Besides, US home prices rose a seasonally adjusted 1.3% in March, and prices grew 6.7% in the first quarter from the same period of 2012, the Federal Housing Finance Agency reported. Compared to the fourth quarter, prices rose 1.9%, the seventh straight quarterly rise. However, the US flash manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to a 51.9 reading in May from 52.1 in April. This is the lowest reading since last October. New orders improved in May, but employment grew at the slowest rate in seven months. The index is still above 50, the level that indicates an expansion in activity.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 12.67 points or 0.08 percent at 15,294.50, the S&P 500 dropped 4.84 points or 0.29 percent to 1,650.51 and Nasdaq inched lower by 3.88 points or 0.11 percent to 3,459.42.

Indian ADRs closed mostly in red on Thursday, Infosys was down by 0.60%, ICICI Bank was down 0.57% and Tata Communications was down 0.38%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank was up by 0.22% and Tata Motors was up 0.07%.

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