The US markets gained for the first session this week on Wednesday, with oil producers leading the gains as the price of crude settled at a more-than-two-year high above $110 a barrel. The uncertainty however roiled markets around the world and investors fret over the potential consequences of a US-led military strike on Syria. The dollar also held near a four-week high against a basket of major currencies before US data forecast to show the economy grew faster than initially estimated, adding to the case for the Federal Reserve to slow monetary stimulus. On the economy front, led by drops in most of the US, sales contracts on homes fell 1.3% in July, a second month of declines, as mortgage rates continued to rise. Despite the recent drop, the pending-home sales gauge in July was up 6.7% from the year-earlier period, according to the National Association of Realtors. By region, pending home sales in July fell 6.5% in the Northeast, 4.9% in the West and 1% in the Midwest. Meanwhile, pending sales rose 2.6% in the South.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 48.38 points or 0.33 percent to 14,824.50, the S&P 500 was up 4.48 points or 0.27 percent to 1,634.96, while the Nasdaq added 14.83 points or 0.41 percent to 3,593.35.
Indian ADRs closed mostly in green on Wednesday; ICICI Bank was up 0.80%, HDFC Bank was up 0.53%, Wipro was up 0.20% and Sterlite Industries was up 0.17%. On the other hand, Tata Motors was down 0.01%.
