Indian ADRs end mostly higher led by Tata Motors
U.S. stocks ended higher on Friday, 15 November 2013 lifting the S&P 500 and Dow Industrials to record closes again, as investors continued to find encouragement in Janet Yellen's support for the Federal Reserve's stimulus efforts. The benchmark index spent the bulk of the session quietly until the final-hour rally sent the index to a fresh nominal record high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 85.48 points, or 0.5%, to close at 15,961.70. The S&P 500 index climbed 7.56 points, or 0.4%, to finish at 1,798.18. The Nasdaq Composite tacked on 13.23 points, or 0.3%, to end at 3,985.97.
The S&P 500 and Dow achieved their sixth weekly gains in a row, rising 1.6% and 1.3%, respectively. The tech-heavy index gained 1.7% for the week, posting its first up week in three weeks. It has risen for six straight sessions.
All ten sectors registered gains with energy and materials ending in the lead.
The energy sector received support from Exxon Mobil which rallied 2.2% on news of Warren Buffett's conglomerate establishing a stake in the oil major.
At a Senate hearing on Thursday, Yellen, who's nominated to head the Fed, said asset purchases have made a meaningful contribution to the economic recovery.
On the economic front, wholesale inventories increased 0.4% in September after increasing an upwardly revised 0.8% (from 0.5%) in August (consensus +0.3%). The strong gain in wholesale inventories in September, along with the large upward revision to August, will likely result in a sizable upward revision to third quarter GDP. The Bureau of Economic Analysis assumed that wholesale inventories fell 0.1% in September, which was obviously well below what actually occurred.
Export prices, excluding agriculture, ticked down 0.4% in October after increasing 0.3% in the prior reading. Excluding oil, import prices were unchanged, which followed last month's uptick of 0.2%.
Separately, industrial production levels fell 0.1% in October after increasing an upwardly revised 0.7% (from 0.6%) in September (consensus +0.1%). All in all, industrial production held up well in October considering the dire predictions that were associated with the government shutdown. In fact, the government shutdown seemed to have no negative effects on the entire industry.
Lastly, the Empire Manufacturing Survey for November registered a reading of -2.2, which was down from the prior month's reading of 1.5. Market had expected the survey to improve to 4.3.
The dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies, fell by 0.3% on Friday.
Bullion metals ended little higher on Friday, 15 November 2013 at Comex. Gold futures edged higher on Friday, scoring their first weekly gain in three, after Federal Reserve Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen voiced support for the central bank's bond-buying program. Precious metals erased earlier losses, gaining support from a weaker dollar index.
Gold for December delivery rose from a session low of $1282.10 per ounce and settled 0.1% higher at $1287.50 per ounce, booking a slight 0.2% gain for the week. They had tallied a loss of 5.1% over the past two weeks.
December silver added a half cent to $20.727 an ounce after gaining 1.3% in the previous session. Prices fell 2.8% for the week, which was their third weekly loss in a row.
Crude oil futures logged a sixth consecutive week of losses on Friday, 15 November 2013 at Nymex extending their longest stretch of weekly declines in about 15 years, as traders continued to fret over the large overhang in U.S. crude supplies and the outlook for energy demand.
Prices posted a slight gain for the session, with December crude tacking on 8 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $93.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices booked a 0.8% loss for the week.
Indian ADRs closed higher on Friday. Among banks, ICICI Bank rose 1.1% to close at $33.87 and HDFC Bank gained 0.62% at $32.50. In the technology space, Infosys climbed 0.9% to $53.97 and Wipro advanced 1.51% to $11.42. Among others, Tata Motors rallied 5.8% to $31.39 while Dr Reddy's Labs lost 0.38% to $39.61.
On Monday, September net long-term TIC flows and the November NAHB Housing Market Index will be released at 9:00 ET and 10:00 ET, respectively.
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