US stocks end higher for first time in four sessions

Utilities and consumer discretionary sector stocks led the gains

U.S. stocks ended Tuesday, 08 April 2014 with small gains, rebounding from three straight sessions of heavy selling. Equity indices exhibited some volatility during the opening hour before setting off on a climb to new session highs. The Nasdaq, which was the weakest index in recent days, stayed ahead of its peers throughout the day as momentum names recovered some of their recent losses.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 10.27 points, or 0.1%, to 16,256.14 by the end of the session. The Nasdaq Composite rose 33.23 points, or 0.8%, to 4,112.99. The S&P 500 ended the day 6.92 points, or 0.4%, higher at 1,851.96. T

Utilities and consumer discretionary sector stocks led the gains.

The Nasdaq was supported by solid gains among the likes of Amazon.com, Google, LinkedIn and Netflix.

The Russia-Ukraine matter is back on the front burner of the market place. Pro-Russian demonstrators in Ukraine are becoming more active this week. This situation could flare up quickly and once again become a geopolitical flash point.

The U.S. dollar index is under strong selling pressure early this week as the greenback bulls are fading again. If the dollar index continues to sink it would remain a bullish underlying factor for the commodity markets.

Traders and investors are looking ahead to Wednesday afternoon's release of the minutes of the latest meeting of the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee (FOMC).

U.S. economic data released Tuesday included the IMF world economic outlook forecasts, NFIB small business index, and the weekly Goldman Sachs and Johnson Redbook retail sales reports. None of this data had a significant impact on the market place. Federal Reserve officials were again on tap to speak on Tuesday, which will garner the attention of the market place.

Bullion metals ended the U.S. day session moderately higher on Tuesday, 08 April 2014. Gold prices closed back above the key $1,300.00 level and hit a two-week high on Tuesday. The yellow metal was boosted on some safe-haven buying interest and by solid losses in the U.S. dollar index. Gold futures climbed back above $1,300 an ounce on Tuesday to settle at their highest level in two weeks as headlines out of Ukraine continued to rattle investors.

Gold for June delivery climbed $10.80, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,309.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. May silver added 15 cents, or 0.8%, to $20.057 an ounce.

Crude Oil futures topped $102 a barrel on Tuesday, 08 April 2014 at Nymex as tensions flared up in Ukraine and the U.S. dollar traded sharply lower, lifting prices to their highest settlement in a month. Prices also climbed in the wake of a monthly oil report from the U.S. government, which revealed higher U.S. oil price expectations for this year and lower production estimates for this year and next. Crude oil for May delivery rallied $2.12, or 2.1%, to settle at $102.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Expectations for a climb in weekly U.S. crude inventories and the potential for more supplies from Libya had put a cap on price gains earlier on in the trading session.

Trading volume was just above average as 733 million shares changed hands at the NYSE.

Indian ADRs ended mostly higher on Tuesday. In the IT space, Infosys rose 0.55% at $54.95, while Wipro was down 0.3% at $13.24. In the banking space, ICICI Bank gained 1.76% at $43.46 and HDFC Bank added 0.72% at $40.59. In the other sectors, Tata Motors advanced 1.38% at $36.80 and Dr Reddy's Laboratories jumped 1.11% at $42.86.

Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be released at 7:00 ET, while the Wholesale Inventories report for February (consensus 0.5%) will cross the wires at 10:00 ET. Also of note, the Federal Reserve will release the minutes from its latest policy meeting at 14:00 ET.

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