US stocks pare early losses and manage to end higher

US stocks ended with moderate gains on Monday, 08 April 2013. Equities began the day on a mixed note on Monday before early selling sent the major averages to their respective lows. Although the morning losses were limited, stocks were unable to break into positive territory following the opening weakness. Although stocks finished with gains, leadership was mixed, suggesting a certain level of indecision was present among market participants. Both consumer sectors ended ahead of the broader market with the defensively-oriented staples in the lead.

For the day, the Dow ended higher by 48.23 points (0.33%) at 14,613.48. Nasdaq ended higher by 18.39 points (0.6%) at 3,222.25. S&P 500 ended higher by 9.79 points (0.63%) at 1,563.07.

Nine out of ten economic sectors ended higher led by consumer discretionary and energy sectors.

Twenty-one of its 30 components finished in positive terrain, led by Bank of America, Coca-Cola and Walt Disney.

The health care sector was the biggest laggard after the group displayed notable outperformance over the course of last week. On the upside, consumer discretionary stocks traded higher amid outperformance from homebuilders. KB Homes was higher by 2.1%.

Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson led blue-chip decliners, off 1.1% following a downgrade to neutral from overweight at J.P. Morgan.

In M&A news, Lufkin Industries surged 37.6% after the company agreed to be acquired by General Electric for $3.3 billion or $88.50 per share. The transaction price represents a 38% premium to Lufkin's Friday closing price.

There was no economic data of note reported today.

Bullion metal prices ended lower on Monday, 08 April 2013. Prices traded lower due to a strong US dollar. The market saw chart consolidation following last Friday's gains. A light slate of U.S. economic data Monday failed to significantly move the gold and silver markets' prices. Traders and investors are looking for fresh fundamental inputs to drive these markets.

Gold for June delivery ended lower by $3.4 or 0.2% at $1,572.5 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday. May silver ended lower by 8 cents (0.3%) at $27.14 an ounce on Monday.

Crude-oil prices ended moderately higher on Monday, 08 April 2013 at Nymex. Prices rose marking their first gain in four sessions, as a lack of progress in nuclear talks between world powers and Iran and conflicts in Nigeria stirred up worries about oil supplies. A strong dollar restricted the price rise though.

Light and sweet crude for May rose by $0.66 or 0.7% to settle at $93.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday. Prices rose to a high of $93.75 during intra day trading.

Today's volume was well below average as less than 600 million shares changed hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. For every stock on the decline more than two gained on the New York Stock Exchange, were nearly 583 million shares traded. Composite volume surpassed 2.8 billion.

Indian ADRs ended mixed on Monday. In the IT space, Infosys was down 0.4% and Wipro was down 2.9%. In the Banking space, HDFC Bank was up 0.6% and ICICI Bank was down 0.5%. In the Telecom space, Tata Communication was unchanged. In other space, Tata Motors was up 1.1%, Dr Reddys was up 1.8% and Sterlite was down 2.9%.

Tomorrow, February wholesale inventories will be reported at 10:00 ET. The U.S. Treasury will auction off $32 billion in 3-yr notes.

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