US Market hopeful of another rate cut

Indices register modest gains though crude prices close above $93/barrel for the first time ever

US stocks ended higher today, Monday, 29 October 2007 on anticipation that Federal Reserve is going to give another treat to the investors by cutting the interest rate by another half percentage point on coming Wednesday, 31 October. Nine of the ten economic sectors posted gains today led by the energy sector. Crude prices closed above $93/barrel for the first time ever.

The Dow Jones industrial Average closed higher by 63 points at 13,870. The Nasdaq Composite Index, finished higher by 13 points at 2,817. S&P 500 finished higher by 5.71 points at 1,541.

Twenty-three out of thirty Dow components ended in green today. Alcoa, IBM and Exxon Mobil led the team of Dow winners. Caterpillar, 3M and JP Morgan remained the main laggards.

The materials sector was today’s best-performing area as the decline in the dollar index continued to propel stocks of companies that benefit from increased commodity prices/demand.

In the currency market today, the dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against a basket of major currencies, was down 0.1%, with the euro earlier touching record highs at $1.4437. As usual, dollar also dropped on speculation that Federal Reserve might be going for another interest rate cut day after tomorrow.

On the earnings front, Dow component Verizon beat market expectations. On the other hand, cereal maker Kellogs reported earnings beating estimates but issued FY 2008 guidance that was below expectations.

Existing home sales fall by 8% in September

All Indian ADRs closed in green today. ICICI Bank, MTNL and HDFC Bank were the main gainers today closing up by 5%-6%. On the tech front, Infosys and Wipro Technologies closed up by 3.1% and 1.02% respectively.

Crude oil prices closed above $93/barrel for the first time ever today. Price rose today after dollar hit a new all-time low against the euro and Gulf of Mexico announced that it has to cut production due to poor weather conditions. Crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for December delivery closed at $93.53/barrel (higher by $0.87/barrel or 0.9%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices rose to $93.8/barrel today earlier in the day during intraday trading. Prices are up 52% on a yearly basis.

Mexico's state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos, one of the largest crude suppliers to the U.S, said that it halted production of 600,000 barrels a day due to bad weather. The company plans to resume production in a couple of days. Tensions between Turkey and Iraq over Kurdish militants as well as over Iran's nuclear program also helped drive oil prices higher.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange topped 1.2 billion, and advancing stocks outpaced declining issues more than 9 to 7. On the Nasdaq, more than 2 billion shares were exchanged, and advancing stocks edged just ahead of those declining.