US stocks end with mild gains

Stocks run out of gas in the final hour of trading

US stocks coughed up almost all its early gains and ended marginally higher on Tuesday, 02 March, 2010. Some merger related news and a weak dollar gave stocks a strong start and indices were trading modestly higher during mid session. But at the end, stocks almost ran out of gas and ended little higher.

At the end of the day on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher by 2.19 points at 10405.98. Nasdaq ended higher by 7.22 points at 2280.79. S&P 500 ended higher by 2.6 points at 1118.31. Dow opened 37 points higher earlier during the day.

Seven of ten economic sectors ended higher led by the materials, energy, and utilities sectors. Telecom and technology sectors featured among laggards. Walt Disney was a major Dow gainer while Microsoft was the main Dow loser.

Strong gains among Europe's bourses in the wake of another rate hike by Australia's central bank helped prop up the mood of global participants and helped U.S. equities start the session on solid footing.

The materials stocks were the best performers. Financials were also a primary leader earlier this session, thanks to a rebound by bank stocks.

Among basic materials plays, Newmont Mining was a primary leader. The stock was helped by both broader market support and sharp gains among precious metals prices.

Monthly auto sales figures hit the wires this session. Toyota Motor reported that U.S. February sales declined 8.7% year-over-year, while Honda Motor reported that its American Honda Motor division saw February sales increase 12.7% year-over-year. Ford reported that its February monthly sales surged 43.1% and retail sales increased 28% from one year ago.

Among major stock movement, Qualcomm shares rose 7% after the company increased its stock buyback authority and increasing its dividend by 12%.

Crude prices ended higher on Tuesday, 02 March, 2010. Prices rose as the dollar slipped against the euro increasing commodities' appeal against an alternate investment. On Tuesday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for April delivery closed at $79.68/barrel (higher by $0.98 or 1.2%). During intra day trading, crude rose to a high of $80.62.

In the currency market on Tuesday, the dollar weakened against the euro. The dollar index dropped by almost 0.4%.

Barring WNS, all Indian ADRs ended higher on Tuesday. Wipro Technologies and Tata Motors were the main gainers soaring 2.1% and 4.8% respectively.

Couple of economic data are expected tomorrow. The private data job cut and employment data are the major ones. Earning reports will continue to pour in tomorrow.