US markets drop on looming concern of monetary stimulus tapering

27 Aug 2013 Evaluate

The US markets closed lower on Monday, after Secretary of State John Kerry called Syria’s actions ‘inexcusable’ and a report stated that US would hit its debt limit in October. Kerry told at a conference that the United States would hold Syria’s government accountable for using chemical weapons. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve seems on track for a small reduction in the pace of its asset purchase program in September, according to experts attending the central bank’s annual retreat in Jackson Hole. There was a palpable sense at the gathering that Fed officials are eager to bring the era of extraordinary policy stimulus to an end. Investors are looking at reports on the economy with a less-than-straight-forward view, given improvement is likely to bring on reduced monetary easing by the Federal Reserve sooner rather than later.

On the economy front, orders for big-ticket US goods sank 7.3% in July, mostly because of fewer contracts for jetliners and large military goods. Demand was also soft in other industrial sectors. The retreat in orders - the first in four months - was expected after a steady increase in demand since spring. Still, the weak report underscores how slowly the manufacturing sector is expanding and suggests the US economy entered the third quarter with little momentum.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 64.05 points or 0.43 percent to 14,946.50, the S&P 500 was down 6.72 points or 0.40 percent to 1,656.78, while the Nasdaq edged lower 0.22 points or 0.01 percent to 3,657.57.

Indian ADRs closed mostly in red on Monday; Tata Motors was down 0.71%, ICICI Bank was down 0.67% and HDFC Bank was down 0.66%. On the flip side, Wipro was up 0.04% and Sterlite Industries was up 0.03%.

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