US Market ends in green territory

The US stock market finished session into positive territory on Wednesday, 15 February 2023, after recouping early weakness on Wall Street, amid ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates after economic data showed strong consumer spending and an uptick in inflation across January.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index advanced 38.78 points, or 0.11%, to 34,128.05. The S&P500 index was up 11.47 points, or 0.28%, to 4,147.60. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 110.45 points, or 0.92%, to 12,070.59.

Total 9 of 11 sectors ended higher along with the S&P500 Index. Communication services was top performing sector, rising 1.17%, followed by consumer discretionary (up 1.16%), utilities (up 0.64%), industrials (up 0.63%), and materials (up 0.44%) sectors. Energy was bottom performer sector, falling 1.8%.

Among individual stocks, Devon Energy Corporation shares plunged 10.5% after the company said fourth-quarter profit was dented by the impact of Winter Storm Elliot on its oil and gas wells.

Tesla's stock advanced 2.4% after chief executive Elon Musk said he plans to appoint a new CEO to Twitter, the social media platform he acquired last year, by the end of the year.

ECONOMIC NEWS: The Commerce Department released a report showing retail sales spiked by 3% in January after tumbling by 1.1% in December. Excluding a surge in sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales still shot up by 2.3% in January after falling by a revised 0.9% in December. The sharp increase in retail sales has led to concerns the Federal Reserve will be encouraged to continue aggressively raising interest rates in an effort to combat inflation.

Meanwhile, separate report from the Federal Reserve showing U.S. industrial production was unchanged in January after slumping by a revised 1% in December.

Among Indian ADR, ICICI Bank added 0.43% to $20.98, INFOSYS was up 0.58% at $19.23, Azure Power Global added 8.4% to $3.73, and Wipro was up 1.2% at $4.94. WNS Holdings fell 0.6% to $86.49. Dr Reddy's labs fell 0.4% to $55.19 and HDFC Bank fell 0.1% at $69.57.

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