US markets ended flat after a choppy session

US markets ended flat after a choppy session on back of worries that two banks may need more capital. The concerns overshadowed an increase in consumer confidence data.

Bank stocks skidded on a WSJ report that Citigroup and Bank of America may need to raise more capital following government stress test on the two banks. Citigroup lost 5.9%, while Bank of America fell 8.6%.

Economic news was encouraging as Consumer Confidence Index shot up to 39.2 in April from an upwardly revised 26.9 in March. Homebuilders ended mixed after a report showed home prices continued to fall but the pace of decline has slowed.

IBM was the biggest percentage gainer on the Dow, rising 2%, after the tech giant boosted its dividend by 10% and announced a stock buyback. On the earnings front, Pfizer beat earnings expectations, as cost-cutting measures helped offset a drop in revenue.

At closing bell, the Dow Jones was down 8.05 points, or 0.1%, to 8,016.95. The S&P 500 index fell 2.35 points, or 0.3%, to 855.16, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 5.60 points, or 0.3%, to 1,673.81.

Indian ADRs ended mostly lower on Tuesday. In IT space, Satyam Computers was down 3.8% at $ 1.77, Wipro was down 0.76% at $ 9.09, Infosys was down 0.03% at $ 28.66 while Patni Computers was up 0.41% at $ 7.34. In Telecom space, MTNL was down 1.03% at $ 2.87 while Tata Communication was up 0.41% at $ 7.34.

In Banking space, ICICI Bank was down 1.9% at $ 18.1 while HDFC Bank was down 1.22% at $ 73.82. In other sectors, Sterlite Industries was down 5.8% at $ 7.64, Tata Motors was down 1.35% at $ 7.3 and Dr Reddy’s Labs was down 1.62% at $ 10.9.

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