Dow crosses above the milestone levels of 16,000 during intra day trading
U.S. stocks closed mostly lower on Monday, 18 November 2013. Indices ended the first session of the week on a mixed note as the S&P 500 lost 0.4% while the Dow added 0.1%. The Nasdaq underperformed with a loss of 0.9% as momentum names lagged once again. Traders focused on comments from some Federal Reserve officials who pointed to the likelihood that the central bank will soon begin to scale back its bond-buying program.
For the first time ever, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 rose above the milestone levels of 16,000 and 1,800, respectively. But they couldn't finish above those levels, although the Dow did score another record close.
The Dow rose 14.32 points, or 0.1%, to end at 15,796.02. The blue-chip index had been up nearly 69 points intraday. The S&P 500 fell 6.65 points, or 0.4%, to close at 1,791.53, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 36.90 points, or 0.9%, to finish at 3,949.07.
Boeing fared best among Dow components, rising 1.7% on upbeat orders news for new jets. In addition, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase also underpinned the index.
Among major stocks under focus, Tyson Foods rose 2.3% after its upbeat earnings report, while Tesla Motors tumbled 10%.
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Amid a quieter geopolitical front, the economic report highlights for this week will be the German ZEW business survey on Tuesday and the U.S. Federal Reserve's FOMC minutes on Wednesday afternoon. The market place remains preoccupied with the timing of any tapering of the Fed's monthly bond-buying program, also called quantitative easing.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Monday reported the collective GDP of the world's 34 major economies rose by 0.5% in the third quarter, from the second quarter. This report adds to the concerns about worldwide deflationary pressures creeping into the picture.
Asian stock markets rallied Monday following the release late Friday of a new economic reform plan from China, following its Communist party meeting earlier last week. The plan opens up the financial and stock market sectors more, and eases restrictions on investment.
Today's economic data at Wall Street was limited to just two items. The September net long-term TIC flows report indicated an $8.9 billion outflow of foreign capital from U.S. denominated assets. This followed the prior month's $8.9 billion outflow.
Separately, the November NAHB Housing Market Index checked in at 54, which was below the consensus estimate of 55 and unchanged from the downwardly revised (from 55) October reading.
Gold futures closed lower on Monday, 18 November 2013 at Comex logging their first loss in three trading sessions. Gold for December delivery fell $15.10, or 1.2%, to settle at $1,272.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. December silver closed down 37 cents, or 1.8%, at $20.36 an ounce.
Crude oil prices at Nymex fell on Monday, 18 November 2013 with strong crude exports from Saudi Arabia, expectations for progress on talks over Iran's disputed nuclear program and comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials leaning toward a pullback in the central bank's stimulus program contributing to the lowest price settlement since the end of May.
December crude lost 81 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $93.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices, which fell 0.8% last week, marked their sixth consecutive week of losses on Friday. That was also their longest stretch of weekly declines in about 15 years.
Continued increases in U.S. crude inventories also kept pressure on oil prices. U.S. supplies climbed for an eighth consecutive week, as of the week ended 8 November 2013. But news of plans for economic reforms in China, the world's second-largest oil consumer, kept a cap on losses for oil prices early Monday.
Today's participation was well below average as just over 650 million shares changed hands on the floor of the NYSE.
Indian ADRs ended higher on Monday. In the IT space, Infosys added 1.37% at $55.37 and Wipro was up 1.46 %at $11.83. In the banking space, ICICI Bank gained 2.17% at $35.26 and HDFC Bank rose 2.05% at $33.87. In the other sectors, Tata Motors jumped 0.51% at$ 31.48 and Dr Reddys Laboratories was up 0.13% at$39.84.
Tomorrow, the third quarter employment cost index will be reported at 8:30 ET.
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