Positive economic data lift US stocks

Stocks Climb as Syria Remains in Headlines

US stocks ended with moderate gains at Wall Street on Tuesday, 03 September 2013. Stocks rose modestly on Tuesday after upbeat data on global manufacturing and as the White House lobbied Congress for a U.S. military response to Syria's use of chemical weapons. Equities displayed broad strength at the open after global indices rallied yesterday while U.S. markets were closed for Labor Day.

The Dow industrials rose 23.65 points, or 0.2%, to 14,833.96. The Nasdaq Composite added 22.74 points, or 0.6%, to 3,612.61. The S&P 500 index climbed 6.80 points, or 0.4%, to 1,639.77.

Consumer discretionary led sector gains and telecommunications was the poorest performer.

Among economic data expected at Wall Street today, the ISM Index for August improved to 55.7 from 55.4 in July. That was better than expected as the consensus estimate called for a modest decline to 53.4.

Also, construction spending increased 0.6% in July after being flat in June. The July number was pretty much in-line with expectations. The data for June, however, improved from the prior report, which showed a 0.6% decline. Private construction spending was up 0.9% after declining 0.2% in June. That was paced by a pickup in nonresidential spending, which jumped 1.3% after declining 0.9% in June. Private commercial (+1.7%), manufacturing (+2.9%) and lodging (+6.1%) spending increased in July.

Among major stocks under focus, Microsoft shares fell 4.6% after the Dow component and software giant agreed to pay $7.2 billion for Nokia Corp.'s main handset business. Nokia shares rallied 31%. Verizon fell 2.9% a day after the telecommunications company and Dow component agreed to buy Vodafone Group 45% stake in Verizon Wireless for $130 billion.

CBS Corp. rallied 4.7% and Time Warner Cable Incgained 1.8% after the network and cable operator reached agreement ending a month-long blackout of CBS and other channels in major cities.

The important U.S. jobs report is out on Friday. The Bank of England and European Central Bank hold their monthly monetary policy meetings on Thursday. There is a Group of 20 nations meeting this week. The U.S. congress returns from its summer recess in mid-September and will immediately have to deal with pressing budget matters. There is an FOMC meeting in September, at which time many believe the U.S. Fed will decided to change its monetary policy.

Raw commodity markets saw some good news on Monday when upbeat Chinese manufacturing data was released. Chinese officials this week said their country's annual economic growth target of 7.5% will be met. There was also positive manufacturing data coming out of the U.S. and the European Union on Monday.

Bullion metal prices ended substantially higher on Tuesday, 03 September 2013 at Comex. Bullion metals ended substantially higher as bargain hunters stepped in to buy the early dip in prices. There was also safe-haven buying that surfaced during the day as it appears the U.S. Congress will support President Obama's effort to use military force against Syria.

Gold for December delivery ended higher by $15.9 (1.1%) at $1,412 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday. Gold rose for first time in four sessions. December silver surged 92 cents, or 3.9%, to $24.43 an ounce on Comex on Tuesday.

Crude-oil prices ended higher on Tuesday, 03 September 2013 at Nymex. Oil futures finished higher on Tuesday for the first time in three trading sessions as growth in U.S. and Chinese manufacturing in August improved the outlook for energy demand. Light and sweet crude for September ended higher by 89 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $108.54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

For every seven shares falling, roughly eight gained on the New York Stock Exchange, where nearly 781 million shares traded.

Indian ADRs ended lower on Tuesday. In the IT space, Infosys was down 1.9% and Wipro was down 1.4%. In the Banking space, HDFC Bank was down 4% and ICICI Bank was down 2%. In other space, Tata Motors was down 0.04%, and Sterlite was unchanged.

Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be released at 7:00 ET and the July trade balance will cross the wires at 8:30 ET. In addition, the Federal Reserve will release its September Beige Book at 14:00 ET.

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