US markets gain as stimulus concern ease

28 Jun 2013 Evaluate

The US markets edged higher for a third session on Thursday, on upbeat economic data and reiterations from Federal Reserve officials that monetary policy depends on the economic outlook. Three top Federal Reserve officials took issue with the jump in interest rates since the central bank’s meeting last week, saying that they were not based on anything policy makers had intended. Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley Fed Governor Jerome Powell and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart were less colorful but more pointed. Dudley stated that expectations of an earlier rate hike were quite out of sync with both FOMC statements and the expectations of most FOMC participants. Dudley played down the possibility that rate hikes are in the cards anytime soon. Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart also spoke that markets had mistaken Bernanke’s framework for tapering central-bank asset purchases, and reiterated the Fed’s approach would be flexible, and based on economic conditions. Powell, in a separate appearance, stated that spike in bond yields over the past month is larger than would be justified by any reasonable reassessment of the path of Fed policy.

On the economy front, the number of people who applied for regular state unemployment-insurance benefits declined by 9,000 to 346,000 in the week ended June 22, pointing to a slightly slower pace of layoffs. The government tweaked its estimate of initial claims for the week that ended June 15 to 355,000. The average of new claims over the four weeks through June 22 declined by 2,750 and stood at 345,750. Besides, consumer spending in the US rose 0.3% in May and personal incomes rose even faster. The increase in spending last month mostly reverses a 0.3% decline in April, which had been the biggest drop in four years. Personal income climbed 0.5% as wages, investment income and payments for entitlements like Social Security all rose at seasonally adjusted annual rates. Inflation as gauged by the core PCE price index increased 0.1%, the Commerce Department reported, and it’s up a scant 1.1% over the past 12 months. The overall PCE index also rose 0.1%.

Separately, pending home sales jumped in May to reach a six-year high, the National Association of Realtors stated. The NAR’s pending home sales index climbed 6.7% to 112.3 in May, from a downwardly revised 105.2 from 106.0 in April. The index was up 12.1% from May 2012 levels.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 114.35 points or 0.77 percent, to close at 15,024.50, S&P 500 added 9.94 points or 0.62 percent, to close at 1,613.20 while Nasdaq edged higher 25.64 points or 0.76 percent, to end at 3,401.86.

The Indian ADRs closed mostly in green on Thursday, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was up 1.57%, Infosys was up 1.13%, HDFC Bank was up by 1.00% and Tata Motors was up 0.40%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank was down 0.13%.


 

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