US Stocks climb on retail-sales data

The US stock market finished session mostly higher on Friday, 16 October 2020, as risk sentiments underpinned after stronger-than-expected growth in advance reading of September retail sales. However, market gains were marginal amid lingering uncertainty about a new stimulus bill.

At closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index inclined 112.11 points, or 0.39%, to 28,606.31. The S&P 500 index fell by 0.47 points, or 0.01%, to 3,483.81. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 42.31 points, or 0.36%, to 11,671.56.

A report from the Commerce Department said retail sales spiked by 1.9 percent in September after rising by 0.6 percent in August. The reading marked the fifth straight increase in retail sales since the gauge cratered in April. Closely watched core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, jumped by 1.4 percent in September after dipping by 0.3 percent in August.

Adding to the positive sentiment, the University of Michigan released a report showing a bigger than expected improvement in consumer sentiment in the month of October. The preliminary report said the consumer sentiment index rose to 81.2 in October from the final September reading of 80.4.

Pfizer shares jumped after Pfizer (PFE) Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said the drug giant will apply for emergency use of the Covid-19 vaccine it is developing with BioNTech (BNTX) soon after the safety milestone is achieved in the third week of November.

Boeing shares gained after European regulators deemed its 737 Max model safe.

ECONOMIC NEWS: US Industrial Production Falls 0.6% In September- US industrial production fell by 0.6 percent in September after rising by 0.4 percent in August, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve on Friday. Production declined for the first time in five months but has still recovered more than half of its February to April decline, although it remains 7.1 percent below its pre-pandemic February level. The unexpected decrease in production in September was partly due to a 5.6 percent nosedive in utilities output, which came as demand for air conditioning fell by more than usual. The report also showed manufacturing output dipped by 0.3 percent in September after jumping by 1.2 percent in August. On the other hand, the Fed said mining output surged up by 1.7 percent in September after tumbling by 2.4 percent in the previous month.

US Retail Sales Jump 1.9% In September-- US retail sales spiked by 1.9 percent in September after rising by 0.6 percent in August, the Commerce Department reported on Friday. The much stronger than expected retail sales growth was partly due to a significant increase in sales by motor vehicles and parts dealers, which soared by 3.6 percent in September following a 0.7 percent increase in August. Excluding the jump in auto sales, however, retail sales still surged up by 1.5 percent in September after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.5 percent in August. Ex-auto sales were expected to rise by 0.5 percent compared to the 0.7 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

US Consumer Sentiment Improves In October- US consumer sentiment index rose to 81.2 in October from the final September reading of 80.4, the University of Michigan reported on Friday. The bigger than expected increase by the headline index came as the index of consumer expectations climbed to 78.8 in October from 75.6 in September, reaching its highest level since March. On the other hand, the report said the current economic conditions index fell to 84.9 in October after jumping to 87.8 in September.

Among Indian ADR, INFOSYS added 1.64% to $15.51, HDFC Bank added 1.08% to $56, ICICI Bank rose 0.83% to $10.96, and Dr Reddys Labs inclined 0.72% to $68.81. Wipro fell 0.4% to $5.01, WNS Holdings fell 4.01% to $62.93, Tata Motors fell 0.11% to $8.80, and Azure Power Global fell 2.04% to $26.95. Vedanta was steady at $5.11.

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