US stocks end near unchanged line

US stocks ended with moderate losses for the week that ended on 24 May, 2013. Indices lost between 0.3% to 1% for the week. U.S. stocks fell for the first week in five as the prospects of the Federal Reserve starting to reduce its bond-buying stimulus rattled a market trading at historic highs. Violent swings in Japanese stocks and the yen, related to both the Fed comments and statements from Japanese officials regarding their country's own stimulus efforts, whose acceleration in April coincided with the latest rally in developed-world stocks affected the stock market during the week.

For the week, the Dow ended lower by 51.3 points (0.3%) at 15,303.1. Nasdaq ended lower by 39.83 points (1.1%) at 3,459.14. S&P 500 ended lower by 17.87 points (1.1%) at 1,649.6.

On Monday, the major averages registered slim losses. The lack of conviction was owed in part to a lack of stirring catalysts. M&A activity was among the notable developments as Yahoo! acquired Tumblr for $1.1 billion in cash.

Stocks ended Tuesday's session modestly higher as the S&P 500 climbed 0.2% and the Dow added 0.4% to register its 19th consecutive Tuesday of gains. Equity indices saw little change during morning action, but afternoon buying interest helped lift the three averages to session highs.

Wednesday saw the S&P 500 settle lower by 0.8% after early strength turned into afternoon weakness. From highs to lows, the S&P fell 1.9% as investors focused on Ben Bernanke's testimony before the Joint Economic Committee. During his remarks, Chairman Bernanke said premature tightening of monetary policy could stall the pace of recovery. Equities spiked at the start of the testimony, but sellers made their presence known this afternoon as the major averages slumped to session lows. The utilities and telecom sectors led to the downside as traders continued to dump income-oriented names.

On Thursday, the major averages ended modestly lower with the S&P 500 shedding 0.3%. The benchmark average saw an opening loss of 1.2% after Japan's Nikkei tumbled 7.3%. Japanese stocks sold off amid continued volatility in Japanese Government Bond futures as the 10-yr yield spiked to 1.002 before the Bank of Japan's JPY2 trillion liquidity injection caused yields to slide back to session lows. Adding insult to injury was news out of China where the HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI (49.6 actual, 50.5 consensus, 50.4 prior) fell below 50 for the first time in seven months. The utilities sector was the weakest performer.

US stocks ended mixed on Friday, 24 May 2013. Friday's losses, however, were mild as investors found some support from a stronger-than-forecast report on demand for big-ticket purchases and after the prior session's improvement in jobless claims.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended Friday with an 8.6-point gain, up 0.1% at 15,303.10 after losing 95 points early in the session. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 0.91 point, or 0.1%, to 1,649.6. The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.3 point, or 0.01%, to 3,459.14.

Among S&P sectors, utilities, energy and telecommunications were the biggest losers.

In the currency market on Friday, the dollar index, which weighs the strength of the market, against a basket of six other currencies, fell by 0.1%.

Friday's economic data was limited to durable goods orders. For April, orders rose 3.3% after declining an upwardly revised 5.9% (from -6.9%) in March. The consensus expected durable goods orders to rise 1.6%. Transportation orders rose 8.1% in April as defense and nondefense aircraft orders increased 25.7%. Excluding transportation, durable goods demand was solid all-around and increased 1.3% in April after declining 1.7% in March.

Crude Oil prices ended lower at Nymex on Friday, 24 May 2013. Prices fell for a fourth consecutive session, with concerns about lackluster energy demand following weak Chinese manufacturing data. Crude for July delivery fell 10 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $94.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after touching a low near $93. Tracking the front-month contract, oil lost 2% from a week ago.

Oil futures had fallen after a preliminary report from HSBC showed activity in China's manufacturing sector swung to contraction, underscoring worries about slowing in the world's second-largest economy and for a key buyer of natural resources.

Bullion metals ended lower at Comex on Friday, 24 May 2013. Gold futures logged a modest loss on Friday in quiet trading ahead of the three-day U.S. holiday weekend but prices finished higher for the week, finding support from the recent declines in global stock markets and a weaker dollar.

June gold chopped around in negative territory during today's floor trade despite a weaker dollar index. It touched a session low of $1384.20 per ounce and eventually settled with a 0.3% loss at $1386.90 per ounce. Although the yellow metal was slightly weaker today, it managed to gain 1.6% over the week. July silver dipped to a session low of $22.27 per ounce shortly after pit trade opened but inched higher in morning action. It then spent the remainder of the session trading near the unchanged line where it eventually settled at $22.50 per ounce, down 1 cent or 0.05% booking a 0.6% gain for the week.

Volume was well below average with only 591 million shares changing hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Indian ADRs ended mixed on Friday. In the IT space, Infosys was down 1.5% and Wipro was down 0.8%. In the Banking space, HDFC Bank was up 0.05% and ICICI Bank was up 0.41%. In the Telecom space, Tata Communication was down 1.6%. In other space, Tata Motors was down 2.9%, Dr Reddys was up 0.5% and Sterlite was up 0.44%.

For the year, the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 are trading higher by 16.8%, 14.6% and 15.7% respectively. Equity and bond markets will be closed on Monday for Memorial Day. On Tuesday, the March Case-Shiller 20-city Index will be reported at 9:00 ET while May consumer confidence will cross the wires at 10:00 ET.

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