Mixed finish for US stocks

Indian ADRs end strictly higher though

U.S. stocks ended a choppy trading session mostly lower on Friday, 03 January 2013 after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke defended the extraordinary measures undertaken by the central bank to boost the economic recovery. Friday's mixed finish was an appropriate reflection of a session that featured some mixed signals. In all likelihood, light volume played a part as some participants were kept away by the winter storm that has encompassed the Northeast.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 28.64 points, or 0.2%, at 16,469.99, but finished the week marginally lower. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 11.16 points, or 0.3%, to 4,131.91 on Friday and lost 0.6% for the week. The S&P 500 slipped less than a point to end at 1,831.37, leaving it down 0.5% for the week.

On that note, seven of ten sectors ended in the red but market breadth remained positive throughout the trading day. Financials, health care and industrials spent the entire session in the green.

Notably, the financial sector was underpinned by large banks as Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase all gained between 0.8% and 2.2%.

Among major stocks under focus, General Motors shares dropped 3.4% after the car maker reported a decline in U.S. vehicle sales for December to 230,157 units, down 6.3% from a year ago, while market expected a rise of 0.8%. Delta Air Lines climbed 5.5% after the firm said its passenger unit revenue was up 10% in December. Shares of Twitter rose 2.2%.

Bullion prices closed higher on Friday, 03 January 2014, for the second consecutive session, as prices continued their rebound from last year's loss to finish at their highest level in nearly three weeks. Prices increased amid signs of increasing demand for bars and coins. February gold extended Thursday's gains despite the slightly stronger dollar index.

Following Thursday's surge, gold for February delivery tacked on $13.40, or 1.1%, to settle at $1,238.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices gained 2% for the week. Silver prices gained along with gold on Friday as March silver added 8 cents, or 0.4%, to $20.21 an ounce after an early slip below the $20 mark. Prices for the white metal had jumped almost 4% on Thursday and saw a gain of 0.8% for the week.

Crude oil futures declined on Friday, 03 January 2014, to lose more than 6% for the week, as an expected recovery in Libyan production and increases in weekly U.S. distillate and gasoline supplies helped push prices to their lowest settlement in a month. The price pressures outweighed support from a much bigger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude supplies.

February crude oil fell $1.48, or 1.6%, to settle at $93.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures prices were down 6.3% from last week's close.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Friday said crude supplies decreased by 7 million barrels for the week ended 27 December 2013. Market was looking for a fall of 1.5 million barrels. Distillate stockpiles, which include heating oil, rose 5 million barrels, while gasoline supplies rose 800,000 barrels. Distillate supplies were seen up 600,000 barrels, and gasoline stockpiles were expected to climb 2 million barrels.

Indian ADRs closed higher on Friday. Among banks, ICICI Bank rose 0.5% to $36.18 per ADR and HDFC Bank was unchanged at $33.78. In the technology space, Infosys climbed 2.92% to $57.15 and Wipro jumped 2.6% to $12.65.

On Monday, November Factory Orders and the December ISM Services Index will both be reported at 10:00 ET.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News