US markets closed higher as oil rallies

The US markets closed higher on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 index, and the Nasdaq Composite Index all closing at record highs for the second time since 1999, on back of sharp uptick in oil prices, which boosted energy and materials shares. Markets were also supported by an upbeat housing market gauge. Builder confidence in the market for new single-family homes rose more than expected in August, a hopeful sign for increased construction. The closely-watched index from the National Association of Home Builders rose 2 points to 60 from a downwardly-revised 58 reading in July. A sub-gauge that measures current sales conditions rose 2 points to 65, while the index of expected conditions over the coming 6 months increased 1 point to 67. The index that tracks buyer traffic dropped 1 point to 44. However, manufacturing conditions in the New York region weakened in August. The Empire State manufacturing index for August fell to negative 4.2 from positive 0.6 in July. The deterioration in August was below the forecast. The index has been bouncing around zero all year, spending four months in negative territory which indicates deteriorating conditions. But this is an improvement from the sharp contraction in the second half of 2015. The six-month outlook worsened to 23.7 in August from 29.2 in July.

Meanwhile, San Francisco Fed President John Williams stated that central bankers and governments must come up with new policies to buffer their economies against persistently low interest rates that threaten to make future recessions deeper and more difficult to avoid. Williams added that setting higher inflation targets, tying monetary policy directly to economic output, instituting government spending programs that automatically kick in during economic downturns, and boosting investment in education and research are all policies that should be considered. He enlightened that the current 2 percent inflation target is not well suited to an economy with a depressed natural interest rate - the rate consistent with an economy operating on an even keel. There are limits to what monetary policy can and, indeed, should, do. The burden must also fall on fiscal and other policies to do their part to help create conditions conducive to economic stability.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 59.58 points or 0.32 percent to 18,636.05, Nasdaq gained 29.12 points or 0.56 percent to 5,262.02, while S&P 500 was up 6.10 points or 0.28 percent to 2,190.15. 

The Indian ADRs closed mostly in green; HDFC Bank was up 0.75%, ICICI Bank was up 0.14%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was up 0.09% and Infosys was up 0.06%. On the other hand, Tata Motors was down 0.23%.