US Stocks gain as bank contagion fears ease

The US stock market finished session modestly higher on Monday, 20 March 2023, on hopes that turmoil in the banking sector may be easing after UBS's takeover of Credit Suisse and central bank efforts to bolster confidence in the financial system.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index inclined 382.60 points, or 1.2%, to 32,244.58. The S&P500 index rose 34.93 points, or 0.89%, to 3,951.57. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 45.02 points, or 0.39%, to 11,675.54.

All 11 S&P500 sectors ended higher. Energy was top performing sector, adding 2.1%, followed by materials (up 2%), industrials (up 1.36%) and consumer staples (up 1.35%) sectors.

The strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to the latest efforts to address turmoil in the banking sector, including UBS Group's (UBS) state-backed acquisition of Credit Suisse. UBS on Sunday agreed to buy its embattled rival Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.2 billion) in a merger engineered by Swiss authorities to avoid more turmoil in the banking group. Following the emergency rescue, the combined bank will have $5 trillion of invested assets, according to UBS.

Also, major central banks moved on Sunday to bolster the flow of cash around the world. The Federal Reserve announced it has joined with other central banks around to world to take coordinated action to enhance the provision of liquidity via the standing U.S. dollar liquidity swap line arrangements.

Investors are also focused on the Fed's decision when policymakers conclude a two-day meeting on Wednesday, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 26.9% chance interest rates will remain unchanged and a 73.1% chance of a 25-basis point rate hike.

Among Indian ADR, INFOSYS was up 0.24% at $16.93, WNS Holdings was up 0.26% to $90.20, ICICI Bank added 1.5% to $20.40, and HDFC Bank added 0.9% at $64.74. Dr Reddy's labs fell 1% to $54.58, Azure Power Global fell 14.2% to $1.81, and Wipro was down 1.1% at $4.52.

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