Indian ADRs end mostly lower led by banking ADRs
U.S. stocks closed moderately lower on Tuesday, 17 December 2013 with investors holding off from big bets a day before the Federal Reserve decides whether to taper its bond-buying program that's boosted stocks. Equities spent the bulk of today's session in the red, but afternoon buying interest helped the major averages end just below their respective flat lines. The S&P 500 shed 0.3% as eight of ten sectors registered losses.
The S&P 500 fell 5.54 points, or 0.3%, to 1,781. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 9.31 points, or less than 0.1%, to 15,875.26. The Nasdaq Composite lost 5.84 points, or 0.1%, to 4,023.68.
WHile industrials, materials and technology sectors were strong, energy, financials and healthcrae featured among laggards.
3M and Boeing posted respective gains of 2.9% and 0.9% after both increased their quarterly dividends. The price-weighted index also received notable support from its top member, Visa which advanced 2.7%.
The highly anticipated and debated U.S. Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting began Tuesday and ends Wednesday afternoon with a statement. A growing number of traders think the Fed will announce a tapering this week. However, there is no clear consensus at all on precisely when the Fed will make its move.
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Today's economic data at Wall Street was limited to just a handful of reports. November consumer prices were unchanged while the consensus expected an uptick of 0.1%. Core prices increased 0.2%, above the 0.1% increase expected by the consensus.
Separately, the current account deficit for the third quarter totaled $94.8 billion, which was narrower than the $101.0 billion deficit that had been broadly anticipated. Lastly, the December NAHB Housing Market Index rose to 58 from 54 while the consensus expected the reading to tick up to 55.
In overnight news, reports in the Euro zone showed inflation remains extremely low and almost to the point of being problematic. European Union consumer prices fell in November, while the overall inflation rate inched up to 0.9%, on an annual basis. In the U.K. the rate of inflation in November fell to its lowest level in four years, at 2.1% on an annual basis.
The important German ZEW economic expectations survey was released Tuesday and handily beat expectations. The December reading was 62.0 versus 54.6 in November. A level of 55.0 was expected. Germany is the economic work horse of the European Union.
Precious metals traded lower on Tuesday, 17 December 2013 as investors awaited tomorrow's FOMC rate decision. Gold futures closed with a loss of more than 1% on Tuesday, falling back after a two-session climb as traders continued to await word on the fate of the Federal Reserve's bond-buying program.
Gold for February delivery dropped $14.30, or 1.2%, to settle at $1,230.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. March silver was hit too, losing 26 cents, or 1.3%, to $19.84 an ounce.
Oil futures close with a modest loss on Tuesday, 17 December 2013 at Nymex with traders eying the potential for a decline in U.S. crude supplies and awaiting a decision by the Federal Reserve on its economic stimulus program. January crude oil lost 26 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $97.22 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after a climb of 0.9% in the previous session. Prices earlier tapped a high of $97.90.
The EIA is expected to come out with its weekly inventory report tomorrow. U.S. crude-oil stocks are expected to have fallen 4 million barrels during the week ended 13 December. U.S. distillate stocks are expected to have fallen 1 million barrels last week, while gasoline stocks are estimated to have increased 1.4 million barrels.
Indian ADRs ended mostly lower on Tuesday. In the banking space, ICICI Bank shed 3.45% at $35.54 and HDFC Bank declines 3.15% at $33.52. In the IT space, Infosys was up 0.38% at $55.87 and Wipro slipped 0.67% at $11.78. In the other sectors, Tata Motors fell 1.18% at $30.04 and Dr Reddys Laboratories jumped 0.66% at $39.71.
Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be reported at 7:00 ET while November Building Permits and Housing Starts for September, October, and November will be released at 8:30 ET. The day's data will be topped off with the much-anticipated 14:00 ET release of the FOMC policy directive.
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