Indian ADRs end mostly lower too
U.S. stocks fell sharply on Friday, 04 April 2014 after heavy selling in momentum stocks such as biotechs and Internet companies reversed an early rally, sending the Nasdaq Composite to its worst day in two months. The markets opened higher following a government report showing a steady pace of jobs growth, lifting both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average to intraday highs. But early gains soon dissipated.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 159.84 points, or 1%, to 16,412.71 but managed to stay 0.5% higher on the week. The Nasdaq Composite fell 110.01 points, or 2.6%, to 4,127.73. Friday's losses resulted in a second weekly loss in a row. The S&P 500 ended the day 23.68 points, or 1.3%, lower at 1,865.09. The benchmark index eked out a 0.4% gain over the week.
Technology and consumer discretionary sector stocks led the losses, while investors piled into the defensive utilities sector, the only one closing higher. Biotechnology and Internet stocks were the worst hit.
Among individual stocks, Microsoft and Visa were down 2.8% and 3.4% respectively, and led the losses among the blue chips.
Among the major economic report expected for the day, the employment data was fairly solid, but nothing to really get excited about. The initial claims data over the past several weeks supported payroll growth in the neighborhood of 200,000. Total nonfarm private payrolls also increased by 192,000 jobs in March, up from 188,000 in February. The consensus expected these payrolls to increase by 205,000. Construction employment increased by 19,000 in March, which was only a marginal improvement over the 18,000 added in February.
The average workweek fell to 34.3 in February as weather conditions prevented employees from working their normal hours. As temperatures and conditions returned to normal, the average workweek jumped to 34.5. Average hourly earnings were essentially flat in March after increasing 0.4% in February. The unemployment rate remained at 6.7% in March while the consensus expected the rate to tick down to 6.6%.
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Precious metals rose on Friday. June gold initially slipped to a session low of $1286.80 per ounce but quickly recovered above the $1300 per ounce level. It rose as high as $1307.50 per ounce nd settled with a 1.5% gain at $1303.40 per ounce. Weekly gains stood at 0.7%. May silver advanced to a session high of $20.23 per ounce in early morning pit trade. It eventually settled 0.9% higher at $19.97 per ounce, booking a 1.0% gain for the week.
May crude oil also traded in positive territory, rising to a session high of $101.63 per barrel in morning action. It brushed a session low of $100.97 per barrel moments before settling with a 0.8% gain at $101.14 per barrel. Friday's advance cut losses for the week to 0.5%.
The selloff invited above average participation as 764 million shares changed hands at the NYSE floor
Indian ADRs ended lower on Friday. Among technology stocks, Wipro declined 1.93% to $13.21 per ADR and Infosys was down 0.71% at $54.78. In the banking space, ICICI Bank was up 0.82% at $43.07 while HDFC Bank shed 0.22% to $40.43. Tata Motors slipped 0.88% to $36.02 and Dr Reddy's Laboratories fell 1.43% to $43.43.
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