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Friday, March 18, 2011

US markets rebound on good economic reports


The US markets pulled back and closed higher on Thursday on the back of good economic reports helping investors put aside fears over Japan’s nuclear crisis. The Labor Department reported that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell more than economists expected last week. Ongoing claims dropped to the lowest level since October 2008. In other economic reports, the survey from the Federal Reserve's Philadelphia branch showed new orders soared, while a gauge of manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region jumped in February to the highest point since January 1984.
The Labor Department in separate report showed consumer prices edged higher in February. The Consumer Price Index rose 0.5 percent last month. Core prices, which exclude food and fuel costs, edged higher by 0.2 percent, the same as the previous month.
Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 161.29 points, or 1.39 percent, to 11,774.59. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 16.84 points, or 1.34 percent, at 1,273.72, while the Nasdaq rose by 19.23 points, or 0.73 percent, at 2,636.05.
Most of the Indian ADRs closed in green on Thursday, Infosys was up by 0.43%, ICICI Bank was up by 0.12%, MTNL was up by 0.04% and Tata Motors was up by 0.24%.
On the other hand, Wipro was down by 0.18% and HDFC Bank was down by 0.53%.

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