US markets jump on easing concern about stimulus with weak GDP data

27 Jun 2013 Evaluate

The US markets jumped on Wednesday, pulling benchmark indexes into positive terrain for the week, as a revision in economic growth calmed concern about US monetary policy. The US economy grew slower in the first quarter than previously believed, mainly because of softer spending on consumer services such as health care, takeout food and travel. Gross domestic product rose by 1.8% in the January-to-March period, down from a prior estimate of 2.4%. The downward GDP revision mostly reflected softer spending on services, which rose just 1.7% instead of 3.1% as previously reported. Americans spend about two-thirds of their money on services. Final sales to domestic purchasers were revised down from a 3.2% annual rate to 1.3%, the slowest in two years. That means demand in the economy wasn’t nearly as strong as the Fed thought as the fiscal belt tightened in the first quarter. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker called the 1.8% GDP figure consistent with his outlook, and stated that central bank was not anywhere near to making cuts in its balance sheet. Lacker added that he expects the US expansion to remain sluggish for a couple more years, and this downward revision to first-quarter growth is in line with his outlook.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 149.83 points or 1.02 percent, to close at 14,910.10, S&P 500 added 15.23 points or 0.96 percent, to close at 1,603.26 while Nasdaq edged higher 28.34 points or 0.85 percent, to end at 3,376.22.

The Indian ADRs closed in red on Wednesday, Tata Motors was down 0.94%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was down 0.62%, ICICI Bank was down 0.59%, HDFC Bank was down by 0.33% and Wipro was down by 0.12%.

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