Nasdaq ends in the red as Apple weighs on tech sector
US stocks ended mixed at Wall Street on Monday, 16 September 2013. Stocks mostly rose on Monday, with the S&P 500 Index gaining for a ninth session in 10, as Wall Street celebrated Larry Summers taking his name out of the running to head the Federal Reserve. In addition, news that Russia and the United States have signed an agreement to decommission Syria's chemical weapons within a year also contributed to gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 118.72 points, or 0.8%, to 15,494.78. The S&P 500 added 9.61 points, or 0.6%, to 1,697.60. The Nasdaq Composite fell 4.34 points, or 0.1%, to 3,717.85.
Nine out of ten major industry groups ended higher led by industrials sector. Technology sector was the sole loser.
Among major stocks under focus, Apple closed lower by 3.2%. Dow component Boeing sported a gain of 3.9% after reports indicated the company is nearing a fighter jet deal with South Korea.
In the currency market, the dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies, fell by 0.3%.
The other factor that put more risk appetite into the market place on Monday is the weekend agreement by the U.S. and Russia on a plan for the international community to take over Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles. The risk of a U.S. military strike against Syria is presently very low, whereas two weeks ago it seemed imminent the U.S. would attack the Syrian regime.
Traders and investors are looking forward to this week's meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee (FOMC). The meeting begins on Tuesday and ends at midday Wednesday. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will also hold a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
A majority of the market place believes the U.S. central bank at this week's meeting will announce it will begin to scale back, or taper its monthly bond-buying program. Some reckon the Fed will announce a $10 billion or $15 billion reduction in its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program. The surprise to the markets could be if the Fed either does nothing at this meeting, or is more aggressive in its initial reduction in bond purchases. For the past several weeks the market place has been fixated on what the U.S. central bank will announce at the conclusion of this week's FOMC meeting.
On the economic front at Wall Street today, the Empire Manufacturing Survey for September registered a reading of 6.3, which was down from the prior month's reading of 8.2. Market had expected that the survey would improve to 9.0.
Separately, August industrial production increased 0.4% while the consensus expected an uptick of 0.5%. Capacity utilization hit 77.8%, which was in-line with the consensus.
Crude-oil prices ended lower on Monday, 16 September 2013 at Nymex. Crude oil for October delivery fell $1.62 or 1.5%, to settle at $106.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Bullion metal prices ended moderately higher on Monday, 16 September 2013 at Comex. Gold for December delivery ended higher by $9.20 (0.7%) at $1,317.8 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday. December silver rose $0.29 or 1.3% to $22.01 an ounce on Comex on Monday.
For every stock falling, more than two rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where 655 million shares traded. Composite volume neared 3.1 billion.
Indian ADRs ended mostly higher on Monday. In the IT space, Infosys was up 0.2% and Wipro was up 0.9%. In the Banking space, HDFC Bank was up 1.5% and ICICI Bank was up 4%. In other space, Tata Motors was up 0.5% and Dr Reddys was down 2%.
Tomorrow, August CPI and core CPI will be reported at 8:30 ET while July net long-term TIC flows and the September NAHB Housing Market Index will be released at 9:00 ET and 10:00 ET, respectively.
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