US markets ended little changed after Fed decision

01 Aug 2013 Evaluate

The US markets ended little changed on Wednesday, but posted monthly gains, after the Federal Reserve offered few clues on potential changes to its monetary policy. After a two-day meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee kept its bond-buying program unchanged at $85 billion a month and stated that the economy was expanding at a modest pace, a change from the moderate pace seen in June. The Fed noted that the rise in mortgage rates was a concern and added that it had its eye on recent low inflation. There was only one dissent, by Kansas City Fed President Esther George, who has been concerned all year that the Fed’s ultra-low monetary policy is pushing money into unwise investments and risking higher inflation. On the economy front, the US government stated that economy grew 1.7% in the second quarter, aided by stable consumer spending and a ramp-up in business investment. The increase in gross domestic product was faster than expected and suggests the US economy remains on a steady if lackluster growth path halfway through the year. GDP is the broadest measure of an economy’s health, reflecting the value of all the goods and services a nation produces. The growth rate in the first quarter, meanwhile, was revised down to 1.1% from 1.8% as part of the government’s periodic overhaul of how it measures the size of the economy and how fast it’s expanding.

Besides, Private-sector employers added a stronger-than-expected 200,000 jobs in July, Automatic Data Processing Inc. reported. ADP revised its June figure upward by 10,000 to 198,000. The employment costs index, which measures the price of US labor, rose 0.5% in the second quarter. Over the past 12 months, employment costs have climbed 1.9%. Separately, Chicago PMI, or the Chicago business barometer as it’s formally called, accelerated a bit in July. The Chicago PMI rose to 52.3 from 51.6 in June, though that's lower than the 54.0 expected. Readings above 50.0 indicate expansion. The national Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index is due for release Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 21.05 points or 0.14 percent to 15,499.50, the S&P 500 was down 0.23 points or 0.01 percent to 1,685.73, while the Nasdaq edged higher by 9.90 points or 0.27 percent to 3,626.37.

Indian ADRs closed on a mixed note on Wednesday, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories up by 1.14%, Tata Motors ended up by 0.29% and Wipro was up 0.16%. On the other hand, HDFC Bank was down 0.43% and ICICI Bank was down 0.18%.

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