US markets closed mostly down; Nasdaq defies trend

The US markets closed mostly lower on Thursday, as traders remained on the sidelines ahead of the key jobs report due on Friday. The benchmark S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average broke their three-day run as investors assessed a slew of mixed economic reports and earnings results, while the Nasdaq Composite defied the trend and closed higher for the third straight day. On the economy front, the number of people filing for state unemployment benefits rose for the second straight week. The number of initial claims in the week ending April 26 rose 14,000 to 344,000, which is the highest level since the end of February. The four-week average of new claims rose 3,000 to 320,000. That’s the highest level since the week ended March 22. Outlays for US construction projects rose 0.2% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $942.5 billion, led by private residential projects.

However, consumer spending accelerated in March and rose 0.9%, the largest increase since August 2009. Personal income rose a solid 0.5%. The savings rate fell to 3.8% from 4.2% in February, the smallest level since January 2013. Excluding inflation, real disposable incomes rose 0.3% for the third straight month in March. The personal consumption expenditure price index rose 0.2% in March compared with February and is up 1.1% in the past year. This is up from 0.9% in February but still well below the Fed's 2% target. US manufacturing companies expanded in April at the fastest pace since the end of last year. The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index rose to 54.9% last month from 53.7% in March, marking the highest level since December. Seventeen of the 18 industries tracked by ISM reported growth last month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 21.97 points or 0.13 percent, to 16,558.87, the S&P 500 lost 0.27 points or 0.01 percent, to close at 1,883.68 while the Nasdaq Composite added 12.89 points or 0.31 percent, to 4,127.45.

The Indian ADRs closed mostly in green on Thursday; Dr. Reddy’s Lab was up 0.21%, HDFC Bank was up 0.16% and ICICI Bank was up 0.10%. On the other hand, Infosys was down 0.39% and Tata Motors was down 0.10%.