Don’t miss the latest developments in business and finance.

US stocks kick off June on a quiet note

Image
Capital Market
Last Updated : Jun 04 2014 | 12:06 AM IST

Indian ADRs end in a mixed mode

US stocks ended Monday, 02 June 2014 generally higher, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at record levels. The main benchmarks moved lower in early trade, after the ISM reported erroneous data showing a downbeat reading in the manufacturing index. Stocks regained footing in the afternoon, once correct data on manufacturing showed factories grew at the fastest pace this year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 26.46 points, or 0.2%, to 16,743.63. The Nasdaq Composite ended the day down 5.42 points, or 0.1%, at 4,237.20. The S&P 500 closed 1.40 points, or 0.1%, higher at 1,924.97.

The ten economic sectors had a mixed finish. Industrials, consumer discretionary and financial sectors finished higher while energy, healthcare and technology sectors were laggards.

U.S. economic data due released Monday included the ISM manufacturing report, which initially boosted the gold market just a bit when it was reported at a weaker-than expected 53.2. However, that initial reported ISM figure was wrong, and the corrected figure of 56.0 was in line with previous expectations.

Separately, construction spending increased 0.2% in April after increasing an upwardly revised 0.6% (from 0.2%) in March. The consensus expected construction spending to increase 0.7%. Total private construction was flat. A 0.1% increase in private residential spending was offset by a 0.1% decline in private nonresidential spending.

In overnight news, the Euro currency was under more selling pressure to start the trading week, which in turn gave a boost to the U.S. dollar index. The European Union's May manufacturing PMI came in at 52.2 versus 53.4 in April. The figure was just a bit weaker than market expectations and helped to pressure the Euro. Focus is turning to Thursday's monthly monetary policy meeting of the European Central Bank.

Also Read

Meantime, there was upbeat economic data from China released during the weekend. China's manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) came in at 50.8 in May versus 50.4 in April. Any reading above 50.0 suggests expansion. That news gave a lift to Asian and European stock markets, and is a positive for most raw commodity markets. China is the world's top consumer of raw commodities.

The big U.S. data point of the week is Friday's Labor Department employment situation report for May. The early forecast is for non-farm payrolls to have increased 215,000 in the report.

In the tech sector, shares of Apple fell 0.7% after the company announced a set of software updates for its products, while also revealing an iOS-based Health Kit app, the release of which has been rumored in the past. Apple notwithstanding, the tech sector was also pressured by Google which lost 1.3% after its head of business development left the company.

It was a mixed finish for bullions on Monday, 02 June 2014. Gold prices ended the U.S. day session moderately lower on Monday, after hitting a four-month low in overnight trading. A firmer U.S. dollar index was a bearish factor that worked against the precious metals on Monday. There was also a lack of major, markets-moving fundamental news in the market place at present. However, that could change in the coming days as a heavy slate of worldwide economic data comes out this week. Traders also digested the latest batch of global economic data.

Gold for August delivery fell $2, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,244 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange after topping $1,250 earlier. July silver rose nearly 6 cents, or 0.3%, to $18.74 an ounce, though that was below an earlier high near $18.90.

Crude Oil futures fell at Nymex on Monday, 02 June 2014 to mark their lowest close in nearly two weeks as traders gauged the outlook for energy demand following a spate of global economic data, including a correction to a U.S. manufacturing index reading.

July crude dipped 24 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $102.47 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Trading volume remained on the light side as less than 537 million shares changed hands on the NYSE floor.

Indian ADRs ended mixed on Monday. In the IT space, Infosys rose 1.63% at $52.27 while Wipro was down 0.45% at $11.09. In the banking space, ICICI Bank ADR gained 3.66% at $51.49 and HDFC Bank advanced 4.69% at $47.14. In other sectors, Tata Motors ADR jumped 0.75% at $37.52 and Dr Reddy's Laboratories was down 0.8% at $40.78.

Tomorrow, the April Factory Orders report (consensus 0.5%) will be released at 10:00 ET.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

More From This Section

First Published: Jun 03 2014 | 10:37 AM IST

Next Story