US stocks advanced on Thursday after a government report cast positive light on the labor market and helped offset recessionary worries. The initial jobless claims indicate the labor market is still okay. This is an economy that is in a soft landing that is not going to deteriorate into a recession,analysts said. But new-homes sales tumbled in August to the lowest level in seven years, a stark sign that the credit crunch is aggravating an already painful housing slump.
Sales of new homes dropped 8.3% in August from July, the Commerce Department reported Thursday, driving down sales to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 795,000. That was the lowest level since June 2000. The home sales report came on the same day that the government reported a relatively brisk business growth rate in revised figures for the second quarter. But the 3.8% pace was less than previously estimated and it occurred before the credit crisis and its repercussions across the broad spectrum of the economy had taken hold. Home prices tanked.
The median sales price in August fell by 7.5% from a year earlier to $ 225,700. That was the biggest drop in percentage terms in nearly 37 years. The median price is the middle point at which half sell for more and half for less. The average sales price dropped by 8% in August from a year earlier to $ 292,000. That was the biggest decline in 17 years.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 34.8 points to 13,912.9, after rising as high as 13,920.4 earlier on. The S&P 500 rose 5.96 points to 1,531.38, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 10.56 points to 2,709.59. On the New York Stock Exchange, trading volume neared 1.2 billion, with advancing stocks ahead of decliners 2 to 1, while more than 1.7 billion shares were exchanged on the Nasdaq, with advancing stocks outpacing decliners by 4 to 3.
Indian ADRs rise; Satyam spurts more than 4%
Indian ADRs had a good session yesterday and majority of them ended in the green. Satyam led the way rising more than 4%. Among the other major gainers were Sterlite and Infosys. In the technology pack, Infosys Technologies was up 2.71 at $ 48.58, Patni Computers was down 1.34% at $ 23.64, Satyam Computers was up 4.39% at $ 26.18, while Wipro ended the day 3.07% higher at $ 14.75.
In the non-technology pack, HDFC Bank was up 1.78% at $ 105.65, VSNL was up 0.27% at $ 22.70, ICICI Bank was up 0.65% at $ 52.49, MTNL was up 1.08% at $ 8.41, Tata Motors was up 0.32% at $ 18.74, Dr Reddy's Lab was down 0.91% at $ 16.38 and Sterlite was up 3.22% at $ 18.57.
No comments:
Post a Comment