Indian ADRs end with losses led by Infosys
US stocks fell sharply on Monday, 03 March 2014 at Wall Street as political tensions between Ukraine and Russia over the Crimean peninsula pushed investors to move into safe havens. The stock market began the new trading week on a defensive note after tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated over the weekend. Russia's armed invasion over the weekend of the Ukraine over the weekend overshadowed several better-than-expected economic reports in the U.S.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down as much as 250 points at session lows, but ended the day 153.68 points, or 0.9%, lower at 16,168.03. The Nasdaq Composite lost 30.82 points, or 0.7%, to 4,277.30. The S&P 500 index finished the day 14.02 points, or 0.8%, lower at 1,845.43, after closing at a record on Friday.
On the downside, the technology sector spent the entire session behind the remaining nine groups. Strikingly, the largest sector component, Apple eked out a modest gain of 0.3% while other large components like Google, Oracle, Microsoft and SAP lost between 1.1% and 3.2%.
Russian troops reportedly entered Crimea after the previous pro-Russian government of Ukraine fell. Russia's parliament is also reportedly considering the annexation of Crimea. Western nations have condemned Russia's actions. The Ukraine news roiled a wide range of markets. As the Comex gold pit was closing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by more than 180 points. Other traditional safe havens such as Treasury bonds and the U.S. dollar rose with other commodities.
Economic data at Wall Street included three reports on Monday. Construction spending increased 0.1% in January after increasing an upwardly revised 1.4% (from 0.1%) in December. The consensus expected construction spending to decline 0.1%. The ISM Manufacturing Index improved in February to 53.2 from 51.3 in January while the expected an increase to 51.3. In January, the Federal Reserve regional manufacturing surveys showed stronger manufacturing conditions. Yet, the national ISM Index recorded its biggest one-month fall since October 2008.
Separately, personal income increased 0.3% in January after being unchanged in December. That was exactly what the consensus expected. Personal spending levels increased 0.4% in January after increasing a downwardly revised 0.1% (from 0.4%) in December. The consensus expected personal spending to increase 0.1%.
Among stocks under foucs, shares in Ford Motor fell 1.2%, while shares in General Motors were mostly unchanged after the release of February auto sales reports. General Motors' February sales slid 1% from a year earlier in February and Ford's dropped 6%, but Chrysler's rose 11% during a month when cold weather likely kept sales below expectations.
Bullion metals ended substantially higher at Comex on Monday, 03 March 2014. Heightened geopolitical tensions surrounding Ukraine, combined with technically oriented buying, pushed gold futures to their highest close since late October on Monday. Much of the buying was described as a flight to safety, particularly as the equity market tumbled, with short covering adding more fuel to gold's move. Gold futures surged by more than 2% on Monday.
Gold for April delivery jumped $28.70, or 2.2%, to settle at $1,350.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, prices had climbed to as high as $1,355. May silver rose 24 cents, or 1.2%, to end at $21.485 an ounce, off the session's high of $21.74.
Increased tensions between Russia and Ukraine drove oil futures to their highest close in more than five months at Nymex on Monday, 03 March 2014 with prices settling near $105 a barrel amid fears of disruptions to global oil supplies.
Crude oil for April delivery rallied $2.33, or 2.3%, to settle at $104.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the highest settlement level for a most-active contract since mid September 2013. The contract had touched a high of $105.22 early Monday.
Indian ADRs ended lower on Monday. In the banking space, ICICI Bank fell 0.78% at $35.40 and HDFC Bank shed 1.7% at $33.02. In the IT space, Infosys plunged 2.82% at $59.93 and Wipro declined 0.72% at $13.70. Tata Motors slipped 1.18% at $34.47 and Dr Reddy's Laboratories was down 1.98% at $44.99.
There are no economic reports scheduled for tomorrow.
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