Dow and the S&P 500 soared to close at all-time highs
US stocks settled on their highs on Wednesday, 18 December 2013 after dovish forward guidance from the Federal Reserve offset the immediate impact of a tapering announcement. During his press conference, Chairman Bernanke elaborated on the decision, saying the Committee plans to introduce further gradual reductions should economic data continue showing measurable improvement.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 soared to close at all-time highs. The Dow added 293 points, or 1.8%, to 16,167.97. The S&P 500 index rose 30 points, or 1.7% to 1,810.65. The Nasdaq Composite was up 16 points or 1.1% to 4,070.66.
Financials and health-care sectors led the gains on the S&P 500.
The Fed announced a slight reduction in its bond purchases after a two-day meeting on Wednesday. Policy-makers said they will cut back to $75 billion in monthly purchases of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities, compared to $85 billion previously.
Although the Federal Open Market Committee reduced the size of its monthly asset purchases from $85 billion to $75 billion, it pledged to keep the target Fed Funds Rate near its current levels 'well past the time that the unemployment rate declines below 6.5%.'
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U.S. stock indexes notched record closing levels on Wednesday as markets interpreted the Federal Reserve's decision to begin the tapering of bond purchases in January as confidence in the underlying strength of the economy and welcomed its commitment to low rates for a considerable time.
Today's economic data focused on housing. The weekly MBA Mortgage Index fell 5.5% to follow last week's 1.0% increase. November building permits rose to 1,007,000 from the prior month's upwardly revised rate of 1,039,000 (from 1,034,000). That was above the pace of 983,000 that had been expected by market.
Regarding Housing Starts, September starts came in at 873,000 while the consensus expected a reading of 915,000. For October, Housing Starts were reported at 889,000 against the 920,000 expected by the consensus. Lastly, November starts increased to 1,091,000 while a reading of 950,000 was broadly anticipated.
Among major stocks under focus, Lennar shares rose 6.3% after fiscal fourth-quarter profits and revenues beat estimates. Shares of Jabil Circuit, fell 20.5% after earnings and outlook fell short of Wall Street's expectations. Ford Motor shares slid 6.3% as the car maker lowered its 2014 outlook. Target Corp. shares rose 3.1% after the retailer's chief executive, Gregg Steinhafel, said he was pleased with Target's holiday performance and introduced a round of last minute sales. Shares in Apple dropped 0.8% hampering gains on the Nasdaq Composite.
Crude oil futures climbed Wednesday, 18 December 2013 to mark their highest settlement in just over a week as traders saw the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to taper its bond-buying program as evidence of a strengthening economy, which bodes well for energy demand. Traders also took in data from the U.S. government showing a decline in weekly crude supplies, albeit one that was less than expected.
January crude oil rose 58 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $97.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that crude supplies fell by 2.9 million barrels for the week ended 13 December 2013. Market was looking for a decline of 4 million barrels. The report aslo showed that gasoline supplies rose 1.3 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles fell 2.1 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles were expected to climb 1.4 million barrels while distillate supplies were seen down 1 million barrels.
Bullion metals ended moderately higher on Wednesday, 18 December 2013. During the regular session on Wednesday, gold prices stuck to a tight range of just over $10 an ounce ahead of the Fed decision, which came after the close of gold trading on Comex.
Gold for February delivery settled at $1,235 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday, up 4.90, or 0.4%. Immediately after the Fed said it would reduce the pace of monthly asset purchases to $75 billion from $85 billion, gold prices fell from their Comex settlement price then recovered to trade a bit higher. March silver was last at $20.03 an ounce in electronic trading, after tacking on 22 cents, or 1.1%, to close at $20.06 an ounce.
Indian ADRs gained on Wednesday. In the IT space, Infosys rose 0.59% at $56.20 and Wipro added 1.53% at $11.96. In the banking space, ICICI Bank jumped 4.81% at $37.25 and HDFC Bank gained 6.53% at $35.71. In the other sectors, Tata Motors was up 0.9% at $30.31 and Dr Reddys Laboratories was up 1.46% at $40.29.
Tomorrow, weekly initial claims will be reported at 8:30 ET while Existing Home Sales for November will be reported at 10:00 ET. In addition, November Leading Indicators and the December Philadelphia Fed Survey will also be released at 10:00 ET.
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