US markets gain on good economic data

04 Sep 2013 Evaluate

The US markets rose modestly on Tuesday after upbeat data on global manufacturing and as the White House lobbied Congress for a US military response to Syria’s use of chemical weapons. The indices significantly cut their gains as President Barack Obama called for a quick congressional vote on his proposal for limited US military action against Syria. On the economy front, US manufacturers expanded at the fastest pace in August more than two years, according to the closely followed ISM index. The Institute for Supply Management index rose to 55.7% from 55.4% in July. That’s the highest reading since June 2011. Reading over 50 indicates more manufacturers are expanding instead of contracting. The ISM’s new-orders gauge surged to 63.2% from 58.3%, but the production index fell to 62.4% from 65% and the employment gauge slipped 1.1 percentage points to 53.3%.

Besides, the final reading of Markit’s US manufacturing purchasing managers index slipped to 53.1 in August from an initial flash reading of 53.9, and it was down from 53.7 in July. That’s consistent with a moderate improvement in overall manufacturing business conditions. The ISM index is projected to dip to 54.1% in August from 55.4% in July. Separately, the US Department of Commerce reported that outlays for US construction projects rose 0.6% in July, rebounding after an unexpected decline in June. Spending on residential construction rose 0.5% in July, while nonresidential construction spending increased 0.6%. Total private construction spending rose 0.9%, while public spending fell 0.3%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 23.65 points or 0.16 percent to 14,834.00, the S&P 500 was up 6.80 points or 0.42 percent to 1,639.77, while the Nasdaq added 22.74 points or 0.63 percent to 3,612.61.

Indian ADRs closed in red on Tuesday; HDFC Bank was down 1.39%, Infosys was down by 0.92%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was down 0.82%, ICICI Bank was down 0.53% and Wipro was down 0.13%.

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