US markets closed mixed as sales of new houses fell ( Jul-26-2012 08:30 Hrs IST )
The US markets closed mixed on Wednesday, as Apple Inc. missed earnings forecast which dented cheer in the technology sector. The consumer-technology company reported that fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue came in below expectations. Also, sales of new houses fell 8.4% in June after reaching a two-year high in May, suggesting that the slowdown in the US economy might be making buyers more cautious. Sales declined to an annual rate of 350,000 in June and median prices of new homes also fell to the lowest level since January. Meanwhile, with the fifth anniversary of the financial crisis approaching in August, policy makers from the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England will meet next week. Central banks, facing a global recovery that’s sputtering even after they delivered trillions of dollars of liquidity and near-zero interest rates, are going to consider fresh strategies to combat the slowdown. Moreover, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s Federal Open Market Committee will meet on July 31 and August 1, a day before ECB President Mario Draghi’s Governing Council and BOE Governor Mervyn King’s Monetary Policy Committee.In Europe, the Office for National Statistics in London stated that the UK economy shrank 0.7 percent in the second quarter from the prior three months, the most since 2009. The UK economy contracted more than expected in the second quarter. The gross domestic product fell 0.7% sequentially in the second quarter following a 0.3% fall in the first quarter. Besides, Germany's business confidence declined in July, according to the latest survey results from Ifo Institute. The Ifo business climate index fell to 103.3 in July from a revised 105.2 in June. The index measuring assessment of the current business conditions fell to 111.6 in July from 113.9 in June. The expectations index dropped to 95.6 in July from 97.2 in June.The Dow Jones industrial average gained 58.73 points, or 0.47 percent, to 12,676.00. The S&P 500 Index lost 0.42 points, or 0.03 percent, to 1,337.89, while the Nasdaq Composite was down by 8.75 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,854.24.The Indian ADRs closed mixed on Wednesday, HDFC Bank was up 0.86%, ICICI Bank was up 0.45% and Tata Communications was up 0.13%. On the flip side, Tata Motors was down 0.23% and Infosys was down 0.16%.
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