Indian ADRs end strictly lower led by Tata Motors and ICICI Bank
US stocks on Wall Street closed sharply lower on Thursday, 02 January 2014, the first trading day of 2014 after data pointed to a slowdown in manufacturing expansion in China and the United States. Stocks were pressured from the opening bell as cautious action in Europe weighed on the early sentiment. Sellers maintained control throughout the trading day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 135.31 points, or 0.8%, to 16,441.35. The S&P 500 dropped 16.38 points, or 0.9%, to 1,831.98. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 33.52 points, or 0.8%, to 4,143.07.
Broad-based losses on the S&P 500 were led by the technology and energy sectors.
Among Dow components, Bank of America gained 3.4% after Citigroup upgraded the stock to 'Buy' from 'Neutral.' JPMorgan Chase also bucked the downtrend, climbing 0.2%.
Thursday's losses came as data raised some concerns about manufacturing growth. China's official manufacturing purchasing managers index fell in December to 51.0 from 51.4 in the previous month, pointing to the difficulties facing exporters.
Today's economic data at Wall Street was limited to three reports, but neither had much of a trading impact. Weekly initial claims dipped to 339,000 from an upwardly revised 341,000 (from 338,000) while the consensus estimate was pegged at 333,000. Notably, there was no indication from the Department of Labor that seasonal adjustments continued creating difficulties.
Construction spending in November rose 1.0% while the consensus expected an increase of 0.8%. The November gain followed an upwardly revised 0.9% increase (from 0.8%) in October. Total private construction, paced by a 1.9% increase in residential spending, was up 2.2% and led the overall advance. Nonresidential private spending jumped 2.7%, paced by gains in the commercial (+4.7%), office (+4.6%), power (+3.3%), and manufacturing (+1.2%) spaces.
Separately, the December ISM Index checked in at 57.0, which was pretty much in-line with the consensus estimate of 56.9. The December reading was the second highest reading for the year, trailing only the 57.3 reading seen in November.
Among major stocks under focus, Apple shares dropped 1.4% after Wells Fargo downgraded the iPhone maker to market perform from outperform. Losses in Apple shares dragged the technology sector as well as the Nasdaq Composite down.
Twitter shares rose 6.1% after a volatile December. The stock surged over the month, despite a tumble in some of the final days.
Bullion prices climbed on Thursday, 02 January 2014. Gold futures on Thursday jumped by nearly $23 an ounce while silver prices led%age gains among the precious metals following reports of physical buyers looking for bargains after the metals suffered their worst year of trading in decades. Gold opened the New Year on a stronger note on Thursday with the help of index rebalancing, a softer tone in equities and more short covering. Prices rose despite a strong dollar index.
Gold for February delivery rose by $22.90, or 1.9%, to settle at $1,225.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Silver for March delivery gained 76 cents, or 3.9%, to end at $20.13 an ounce.
Crude oil futures slumped on Thursday, 03 January 2014, the first trading day of the new year, with gains in the U.S. dollar and increased production in Libya helping to push down prices 3%. February crude oil fell $2.98, or 3%, to settle at $95.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Feb crude oil extended losses for a third consecutive session as a stronger dollar index and reports that Libyan protesters have agreed to reopen a key oil field weighed on prices. The energy component trended lower after pulling back from its session high of $97.66 per barrel set at pit trade open. It fell below the $96 per barrel level.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's supply data are due to be released at 11 a.m. Eastern on Friday. The EIA will also release its weekly data on natural-gas supplies in storage at 10:30 a.m. Eastern on Friday.
Indian ADRs ended lower on Thursday. In the IT space, Infosys shed 1.89% at $55.53 and Wipro was down 2.07% at $12.33. In the banking space, ICICI Bank tumbled 3.15% at $36 and HDFC Bank fell 1.92% at $33.78. In the other sectors, Tata Motors slipped 3.99% at $29.57 and Dr Reddys Laboratories fell 1.78% at $40.30.
Trading volume was on the light side as just over 610 million shares changed hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
There is no economic data on tomorrow's schedule.
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