Indian ADRs witness a mixed finish though
U.S. stocks bounced off session lows but still finished lower on
Monday, 24 March 2014.
Losses followed a drop in prices on Friday, which dented last week's gains. Equity indices began the session in the green, but quickly slumped into the red as biotechnology sector continued its recent woes while other momentum names displayed broad weakness.
Late-afternoon buying lifted the key averages off their lows, but the Nasdaq could only reclaim a portion of its loss. Biotech and internet stocks were the biggest losers on the tech-heavy index.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 26.08 points, or 0.2%, to 16,276.69. The Nasdaq Composite finished the day 50.40 points, or 1.2%, lower at 4,226.39, paring some of the heavy losses at session lows. The S&P 500 index ended the day 9.08 points, or 0.5%, lower at 1,857.44.
Apple, IBM and Microsoft gained between 0.9% and 1.2% with Apple's strength coming amid reports indicating the company is working on a content distribution agreement with Comcast about teaming up for a streaming-television service.
Among other stocks under focus, Netflix shares declined 6.7%. Facebook dropped 4.7%, among the biggest S&P 500 losers.
There was no notable economic data reported today, but some news of note came out of the G7 meeting at The Hague where the G7 nations issued a joint statement, saying they are suspending their participation in the G8 until "Russia changes course."
The economic data point of the day Monday saw the China HSBC preliminary purchasing managers' index drop to an eight-month low of 48.1 in March from 48.5 in February. This continues a trend of weaker-than-expected economic data coming out of China and raises the question whether will China move to use monetary stimulus to boost its economy. The spate of weaker data from China has been a bearish underlying factor for many raw commodity markets.
The U.S. flash PMI index came in Monday at 55.5 in March versus 57.1 in February. That data had little impact on the market place. Meantime, the European Union's March manufacturing flash PMI came in at 53.2 versus expectations of a 53.3 reading and a February figure of 53.3. A PMI reading below 50.0 suggests contraction and above 50.0 suggests growth.
The Ukraine-Russia conflict is still on the radar screen of the market place. Any significant escalation of tensions between Ukraine and Russia would quickly put keener risk-aversion into the market place.
Bullion prices ended substantially lower at Comex on Monday, 24 March 2014. Gold prices fell by nearly 2% on Monday to settle at their lowest level in more than five weeks as some traders bet on a U.S. interest-rate hike as early as next year, which could boost the dollar and pressure dollar-denominated prices for the metal.
April gold fell $24.80, or 1.9%, to settle at $1,311.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. May silver fell 24 cents, or 1.2%, to end at $20.07 an ounce, with prices marking their sixth session decline in a row.
Crude oil prices logged a minor gain on Monday, 24 March 2014 at Nymex as an oil spill caused the closure of one of the busiest seaports in the United States. Traders also continued to weigh the prospects for global crude-supply disruptions linked to Russia-Ukraine tensions, providing further support for oil prices, but weak economic data from China kept a cap on any gains
Crude for May delivery rose 14 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $99.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Participation was in line with average as roughly 714 million shares changed hands at the NYSE.
Indian ADRs ended mixed on Monday. In the IT space, Infosys was down 1% at $53.32 and Wipro shed 0.76% at $13.02. In the banking space, ICICI Bank rose 2.43% at $42.60 and HDFC Bank added 1.43% at $39.03. In the other sectors, Tata Motors was up 0.18% at 33.16 and Dr Reddy's Laboratories declined 0.67% at $44.60.
Tomorrow, the Case-Shiller 20-city Index (consensus 13.3%) for January and the January FHFA Housing Price Index will be released at 9:00 ET while March Consumer Confidence (consensus 78.2) and New Home Sales for February will be reported at 10:00 ET.
Losses followed a drop in prices on Friday, which dented last week's gains. Equity indices began the session in the green, but quickly slumped into the red as biotechnology sector continued its recent woes while other momentum names displayed broad weakness.
Late-afternoon buying lifted the key averages off their lows, but the Nasdaq could only reclaim a portion of its loss. Biotech and internet stocks were the biggest losers on the tech-heavy index.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 26.08 points, or 0.2%, to 16,276.69. The Nasdaq Composite finished the day 50.40 points, or 1.2%, lower at 4,226.39, paring some of the heavy losses at session lows. The S&P 500 index ended the day 9.08 points, or 0.5%, lower at 1,857.44.
Apple, IBM and Microsoft gained between 0.9% and 1.2% with Apple's strength coming amid reports indicating the company is working on a content distribution agreement with Comcast about teaming up for a streaming-television service.
Among other stocks under focus, Netflix shares declined 6.7%. Facebook dropped 4.7%, among the biggest S&P 500 losers.
There was no notable economic data reported today, but some news of note came out of the G7 meeting at The Hague where the G7 nations issued a joint statement, saying they are suspending their participation in the G8 until "Russia changes course."
The economic data point of the day Monday saw the China HSBC preliminary purchasing managers' index drop to an eight-month low of 48.1 in March from 48.5 in February. This continues a trend of weaker-than-expected economic data coming out of China and raises the question whether will China move to use monetary stimulus to boost its economy. The spate of weaker data from China has been a bearish underlying factor for many raw commodity markets.
The U.S. flash PMI index came in Monday at 55.5 in March versus 57.1 in February. That data had little impact on the market place. Meantime, the European Union's March manufacturing flash PMI came in at 53.2 versus expectations of a 53.3 reading and a February figure of 53.3. A PMI reading below 50.0 suggests contraction and above 50.0 suggests growth.
The Ukraine-Russia conflict is still on the radar screen of the market place. Any significant escalation of tensions between Ukraine and Russia would quickly put keener risk-aversion into the market place.
Bullion prices ended substantially lower at Comex on Monday, 24 March 2014. Gold prices fell by nearly 2% on Monday to settle at their lowest level in more than five weeks as some traders bet on a U.S. interest-rate hike as early as next year, which could boost the dollar and pressure dollar-denominated prices for the metal.
April gold fell $24.80, or 1.9%, to settle at $1,311.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. May silver fell 24 cents, or 1.2%, to end at $20.07 an ounce, with prices marking their sixth session decline in a row.
Crude oil prices logged a minor gain on Monday, 24 March 2014 at Nymex as an oil spill caused the closure of one of the busiest seaports in the United States. Traders also continued to weigh the prospects for global crude-supply disruptions linked to Russia-Ukraine tensions, providing further support for oil prices, but weak economic data from China kept a cap on any gains
Crude for May delivery rose 14 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $99.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Participation was in line with average as roughly 714 million shares changed hands at the NYSE.
Indian ADRs ended mixed on Monday. In the IT space, Infosys was down 1% at $53.32 and Wipro shed 0.76% at $13.02. In the banking space, ICICI Bank rose 2.43% at $42.60 and HDFC Bank added 1.43% at $39.03. In the other sectors, Tata Motors was up 0.18% at 33.16 and Dr Reddy's Laboratories declined 0.67% at $44.60.
Tomorrow, the Case-Shiller 20-city Index (consensus 13.3%) for January and the January FHFA Housing Price Index will be released at 9:00 ET while March Consumer Confidence (consensus 78.2) and New Home Sales for February will be reported at 10:00 ET.
