Sunday, August 26, 2007

US stocks end the week on a strong note scoring weekly gains of more than 2%; Unexpected jump in new home sales boost sentiments

US stocks ended sharply higher Friday, with the major indexes scoring weekly gains of more than 2%, after an unexpected rise in new home sales jump-started thinking that the worst of the subprime mess could be over and a recession avoided.

US stocks posted their biggest advance in five months, boosted by speculation the Federal Reserve will stem losses in credit markets and revive this year's record pace of takeovers. Stocks rebounded from a monthlong skid that sent the Standard & Poor's 500 index down 6.9 percent as economic reports showed new-home sales and durable-goods orders rose. Lowe's Cos., the second-largest U.S. home-improvement retailer, climbed the most in four years as its profit topped analysts' estimates.

Manay analysts believe that some normalcy has returned in the markets. They expect the Fed to let the market know that it was ready to cut rates if the crisis continued and the market has expressed some comfort in that.
More than 922 million shares exchanged hands at the New York Stock Exchange, with gainers outpacing decliners by 3 to 1. At the Nasdaq, 1.3 billion shares were traded, with gainers outpacing decliners by 9 to 5.

Meanwhile, sales of new home increased 2.8% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 870,000 as the inventory of homes for sale dropped for a fourth straight month, the Commerce Department estimated Friday. Sales were stronger than the 820,000 annualized pace expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. In addition, sales in June were revised slightly higher. The Commerce Department reported that orders for U.S.-made durable goods surged in July, jumping 5.9% on higher demand for airplanes, vehicles, computers, machinery, steel and most other kinds of long-lasting manufactured goods. The increase far exceeded the expected 1.5% gain forecast by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. It was the largest gain in total orders in nearly a year.

The Dow Jones Average rose 143 points at 13,378, with 29 of its 30 components in positive territory. The S&P 500 gained 16.9 points at 1,479 points, while the technology-laden Nasdaq Composite rose 35 points at 2,576.For the week, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 2.3% to 1,479.37, the steepest gain since March. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.3% to 13,378.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 2.9% to 2,576.69.


Indian ADRs end on a strong note; Tata Motors spurts 6%

Indian ADRs too ended the week on a strong note and with the exception of Dr Reddy's Lab, all of them ended in the green. In the technology pack, Infosys Technolgoies was up 2.24% at 47.02, Patni Computers was up 2.64% at 22.13, Satyam COmputers was up 1.45% at 24.45, while Wipro ended the day 1.41% up at 13.70.

In the non-technology pack, HDFC Bank was up 4% at 84.30, VSNL was up 2.33% at 18.85, ICICI Bank was up 2.54% at 42.47, MTNL was up 3.56% at 6.69, Tata Motors was up 5.72% at 16.45, Dr Reddy's Lab was down 1.15% at 15.54 and Sterlite was up 0.67% at 15.

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