The US markets closed up on Tuesday, with S&P 500 index finishing above 1,700 for the first time since early August, after Microsoft Corporation hiked its dividend and as Wall Street awaited the next day’s monetary-policy decision from the Federal Reserve. The two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting started Tuesday, with a policy decision expected at 2 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday. Most market participants expect the Fed to cut its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases. On the economy front, confidence among home builders in September remained at the highest level in almost eight years, despite rising mortgage rates. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing-market index remained at 58 in September. Readings above 50 signal that builders, generally, are optimistic about sales trends.
On the other hand, the higher cost of housing and medical care pushed up US consumer prices in August, but gasoline costs fell for the first time since late spring and inflationary pressure was largely absent. The Labor Department stated that the consumer price index rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.1% last month. Excluding food and energy, so-called core consumer prices also increased 0.1%. The cost of shelter jumped 0.3% and medical care advanced 0.6% in August. Auto prices were flat, however, following two straight increases. The core rate is viewed by the Federal Reserve as a more useful gauge of underlying inflationary trends. Separately, the median income of households in America was $51,017 in 2012, which is not statistically different from the $51,100 in 2011, the Census Bureau stated. That followed two annual declines.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 34.95 points or 0.23 percent to 15,529.70, the S&P 500 was up 7.16 points or 0.42 percent to 1,704.76, while the Nasdaq gained 27.85 points or 0.75 percent to 3,745.70.
Indian ADRs closed mostly in green on Tuesday; Dr. Reddy’s Lab was up by 1.34%, Tata Motors was up 0.41%, Wipro was up 0.35% and Infosys was up 0.12%. On the other hand, HDFC Bank was down 0.02%.
