US stocks ended in a mixed mode on Monday, 13 May 2013. Earlier during the day, stocks swung between small gains and losses in choppy trading as investors mulled when the Federal Reserve may begin to scale back its $85-billion-a-month bond-buying program. But the S&P 500 stock index gained marginally on Monday, notching an all-time closing high after data showed a rise in retail sales
For the day, the Dow ended lower by 26.81 points (0.2%) at 15,091.7. Nasdaq ended higher by 2.21 points (0.06%) at 3,438.78. S&P 500 ended higher by 0.07 points (0.00%) at 1,633.77.
Health care was the best performing sector and telecommunications the worst performing one among the index's 10 major industry groups. Seventeen out of thirty Dow socks ended in the red. Alcoa was the biggest decliner.
Stocks registered losses at the open as Thursday's afternoon rumor turned into a Friday evening headline. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Federal Reserve has begun to map out a plan to slow the pace of its asset purchase program. Past comments from the Fed have indicated any changes would likely have to be preceded by a notable improvement in the labor market.
Investors considered the possible curtailing of monetary-policy stimulus by the Fed. The central bank's easy monetary policy tends to raise the risk of inflation, as well as put pressure on the dollar.
China on Monday reported its industrial production did improve during April, but still came in slightly below trade expectations. Industrial production in China came in at up 9.3%, on an annualized basis, in April. The market expected up 9.5%.
Reviewing today's economic data at Wall Street, business inventories growth was flat for a second consecutive month in March. The consensus expected business inventories to increase 0.3%. Inventory growth from manufacturers (0.0%) and merchant wholesalers (0.4%) was known prior to the release. The only new information was that retailer inventories declined 0.5% in March after increasing 0.2% in February.
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Retail sales increased 0.1% in April after declining 0.5% in March. The consensus expected retail sales to decline 0.3%.
The April employment report showed a 0.3% decline in aggregate wages. The increase in sales was a result of consumers reducing their savings rate. That may work in the short-run, but consumers are expected eventually to increase their savings rate back to 2012 levels. Unless income growth accelerates, retail sales growth will likely decelerate and possibly contract in the long-run.
In the currency market, the dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies, rose by 0.15% on Monday.
Bullion metal prices ended mixed on Monday, 13 May 2013. Comex gold prices ended the U.S. day session with slight losses on Monday, on some mild selling pressure from sharp losses suffered late last week. The key outside markets were also in a bearish posture for the precious metals markets on Monday, as the U.S. dollar index was firmer and crude oil prices were lower.
Gold for June delivery ended lower by $2.3 (0.2%) at $1,434.3 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday. July silver ended higher by $0.04 cents (0.2%) at $23.7 an ounce on Monday.
Crude-oil prices ended lower on Monday, 13 May 2013 at Nymex. June crude oil dropped following a strong dollar. Light and sweet crude for June ended lower by $0.87 (0.9%) at $95.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday.
More than 590 million shares exchanged hands on the New York Stock Exchange. Composite volume topped 2.8 billion.
Indian ADRs ended lower on Monday. In the IT space, Infosys was down 0.2% and Wipro was down 1.2%. In the Banking space, HDFC Bank was down 1.1% and ICICI Bank was down 0.5%. In the Telecom space, Tata Communication was down 2.6%. In other space, Tata Motors was down 3.9%, Dr Reddys was down 0.1% and Sterlite was down 2.4%.
Tomorrow, economic data will be limited to export prices ex-agriculture and import prices ex-oil which will both be reported at 8:30 ET.
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