US markets slip on fear of stimulus withdrawal

21 Jun 2013 Evaluate

The US markets furthered their slump on Thursday, with the S&P 500 suffering its worst session since November 2011, hit by fear that the Federal Reserve will scale back its bond buying later this year. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had stated that the central bank may begin to scale back its $85-billion-a-month bond-buying program later this year if the economy continues to show strength. On the economy front, the Labor Department stated that the number of people who applied last week for unemployment benefits rose above 350,000 for the first time in three weeks, but initial claims remained at a level consistent with a mildly improving labor market. New jobless claims climbed by 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 354,000 in the week ended June 15. The US flash manufacturing purchasing managers' index inched lower to a 52.2 reading in June from 52.3 in May. Details of the report were mixed. New orders improved in June, but employment grew at the slowest rate in the recovery. The index is still above 50, the level that indicates an expansion in activity.

Besides, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported that manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region jumped in June to its highest level since April 2011. The bank's business condition index rose to 12.5 in June from negative 5.2 in May. The size of the improvement was unexpected. Separately, the leading economic index for the US rose 0.1% in May to 95.2%, mostly because of attractive interest rates and rising stock prices, the Conference Board stated. Three of the 10 indicators improved: stock prices, the interest rate spread and credit availability. Three other indicators declined and four were unchanged. Additionally, existing-home sales rose 4.2% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.18 million -- the highest rate since November 2009, when a buyer tax credit deadline approached -- pointing to a continuing recovery. Sales of existing homes in May were 12.9% higher than during the same period in the prior year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 353.87 points or 2.34 percent, to close at 14,758.30, S&P 500 slipped by 40.74 points or 2.50 percent, to close at 1,588.19 while Nasdaq dropped 78.57 points or 2.28 percent, to end at 3,364.64.

The Indian ADRs closed in red on Thursday, ICICI Bank was down 2.21%, HDFC Bank was down by 1.63%, Infosys was down 1.14%, Tata Motors was down 1.06% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab was down 0.97%.

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