All Indian ADRs end strictly lower
U.S. stocks pulled back on Tuesday, 19 November 2013 as investors showed caution after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 failed to hold above milestone levels in the prior session. Equities posted modest losses, ending near their lows. The main indices had briefly stepped modestly higher on Tuesday after a European Central Bank official said quantitative easing is a possibility, but then erased those gains, finishing with losses after a choppy session.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 8.99 points, or less than 0.1%, to close at 15,967.0. The S&P 500 dropped 3.66 points, or 0.2%, to finish at 1,787.8. The Nasdaq Composite shed 17.51 points, or 0.4%, to close at 3,931.55.
Investors awaited a speech after the market's close by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, as well as the release of minutes on Wednesday from the Fed's last policy meeting.
Stocks displayed some strength during the opening hour as an early bid catapulted the Dow above the 16,000 level for the second day in a row. The early gain in the Dow was aided by Home Depot which reported better-than-expected earnings while raising its full-year guidance above analyst expectations. The price-weighted index also received significant support from energy and financials sectors in the lead. However, the rally fizzled out as the underperformance of industrials weighed.
Among other stocks under focus, Best Buy slid 11% after the electronics retailer warned of weak margins.
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Today, after close, Bernanke said a preponderance of data would be needed to start removing stimulus, after his nominated successor, Fed Vice-Chairman Janet Yellen, signaled last week that the U.S. economy is not yet strong enough to warrant cuts to the record bond-buying program. The Federal Open Market Committee publishes minutes of its October meeting on Wednesday.
The market place has been quieter early this week, and is awaiting the U.S. Federal Reserve's FOMC minutes release on Wednesday afternoon. The minutes will be from the October meeting, and as always traders and investors will be scrutinizing the report for any fresh clues on Fed monetary policy moves upcoming.
In overnight news, the German ZEW economic expectations survey was released and hit a four-year high. The ZEW expectations indicator rose to 54.6 in November from 52.8 in October. However, the number was slightly below market expectations of a reading of 55.0. However, the ZEW current conditions index dropped to 28.7 in November from 29.7 in October. The ZEW news did not have a positive impact on the European stocks markets, which were mostly weaker Tuesday.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reported Tuesday the major focus of concern for the Paris-based body has shifted from the European Union and its sovereign debt problems to the U.S. and its fiscal and budget problems. The OECD noted surprise the market place has focused so much on the timing of the U.S. Federal Reserve's expected tapering of its monthly bond-buying program, also called quantitative easing. The OECD also forecast its 34-members countries' collective economy will grow by 1.2% in 2013, by 2.3% in 2014 and by 2.7% in 2015.
Today's economic data at Wall Street was limited to the third quarter employment cost index, which increased 0.4%, down from a 0.5% increase in the second quarter. The consensus expected the index to increase 0.5%. Year-over-year, compensation increased 1.9%. Wages and salaries increased 0.3% in the third quarter. That is down from a 0.4% increase in the second quarter and the weakest gain since increasing by the same amount in Q4 2012.
Bullion metals ended mixed on Tuesday, 19 November 2013. Gold futures settled higher on Tuesday, getting back on track after its short winning streak was derailed a day earlier amid further indications from the Federal Reserve that the tapering of the bond-buying program would begin sooner rather than later. Silver ended marginally lower.
Gold for December delivery climbed $1.20, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,273.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It touched an intraday high just above $1,278. December silver, meanwhile, pulled back by 2 cents, or 0.1%, to end at $20.33 an ounce after tapping a high near $20.48.
Crude oil futures closed higher on Tuesday, 19 November 2013 at Nymex as traders placed their bets ahead of weekly reports on U.S. crude supplies and geared up for a meeting between Iran and world powers that may potentially result in an easing of sanctions against the Middle Eastern nation.
Crude oil for December delivery tacked on 31 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $93.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices spent the session trading in a range of less than $1 between the intraday high and low. The December contract is due to expire at the close on Wednesday.
Participation was on the light side as 646 million shares changed hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Indian ADRs ended lower on Tuesday. In the IT space, Infosys shed 0.78% at $54.94 and Wipro was down 1.35% at $11.67. In the banking space, ICICI Bank fell 1.79% at $34.63 and HDFC Bank declined 2.6% at $32.99. In the other sectors, Tata Motors slipped 2.26% at $30.77 and Dr Reddys Laboratories was down 1.2% at $39.36.
Tomorrow will be busy in terms of economic data with the MBA Mortgage Index and October retail sales set to be reported at 7:00 ET and 8:30 ET, respectively. October CPI will also be reported at 8:30 ET while September business inventories and October existing home sales will be released at 10:00 ET. The day will be topped off with the 14:00 ET release of the FOMC Minutes from the October meeting.
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