US markets gain; S&P closes record high

10 Dec 2013 Evaluate

The US markets edged higher on Monday, sending the S&P 500 to a record close, as investors were largely unfazed by a trio of Federal Reserve officials suggesting a stimulus reduction could come next week. Richard Fisher, the president of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank stated that the Federal Reserve should begin to pull back the pace of its asset purchase program at the earliest opportunity. Fisher, who will be a voting member of the Fed’s policy-making committee in 2014, has never been a fan of this round of quantitative easing, arguing that it comes at a cost that far exceeded its purported benefits. James Bullard, the president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank notified that a small taper might recognize labor market improvement while still providing the Fed the opportunity to carefully monitor inflation during the first half of 2014.

Besides, Jeffrey Lacker, the president of the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank added that the Federal Reserve will discuss the possibility of pulling back its asset purchase program at its meeting next week. Lacker did not indicate how the discussion could go but made clear that he is not a supporter of the program. Fisher stated that he expects inflation to move back toward 2% over the next year or two and enlightened that the central bank will watch the current low inflation rate closely. Meanwhile, on the economy front, home-mortgage debt in the third quarter rose for the first time since the Great Recession, showing consumers beginning to add leverage as the economy improves. Home-mortgage debt rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.9%, or $87.4 billion, in the third quarter, the first gain since the first quarter of 2008, the Federal Reserve stated.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 5.33 points or 0.03 percent to 16,025.53, the S&P 500 was up 3.28 points or 0.18 percent to 1,808.37, while Nasdaq added 6.23 points or 0.15 percent to 4,068.75.

Indian ADRs closed mostly in green on Monday; ICICI Bank was up 1.94%, HDFC Bank was up 0.77%, Tata Motors was up by 0.15% and Wipro was up 0.12%. On the other hand, Infosys was down 0.29%.

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