US markets moved higher on encouraging economic data

The US markets rallied, with the benchmark indices up more than a percent, after industrial production rose for a second straight month and weakness in the dollar boosted commodity and industrial stocks.

Financials like American Express, Bank of America and JP Morgan too saw strong gains also saw healthy gains. All three major indices hit new highs for the year.

Encouraging economic data also helped the US markets stay upbeat. Industrial production rose 0.8% in august, better than expected, and the prior month was revised to a 1% gain – double the 0.5% originally reported.

August consumer price index showed a 0.4% increase, which was a tad higher than the expected 0.3% increase core consumer prices for August increased 0.1% in line with forecast.

At closing bell, the Dow Jones gained 108.30 points, or 1.1%, to 9,791.71. The S&P 500 index added 16.13 points, or 1.5%, to 1,068.76, while the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 30.51 points, or 1.5%, to 2,133.15. The S&P 500 is up about 60% from its March 9 low.

In base metals, copper prices jumped nearly 3%, the most in more than three weeks after US industrial production rose in August. Other base metals like aluminium and zinc too rallied over 5%.

In currencies, the dollar dropped to near one-year lows against the euro and a basket of currencies. The dollar index fell as low as 76.151, its weakest in nearly a year on speculation that Asian stocks will extend a global rally.

Indian ADRs ended in green following a rise in Wall Street. In IT space, Infosys was up 2.99% at $ 48.55, Wipro was up 2.31% at $ 6.65, Satyam Computers was up 1.58% at $ 16.76 and Patni Computers was up 5.32% at $ 18.01.

In Banking space, ICICI Bank was up 3.63% at $ 36.85 and HDFC Bank was up 2.74% at $ 109.35. In Telecom space, Tata Communication was up 0.85% at $ 20.09 and MTNL was up 0.81% at $ 3.73.

In other sectors, Tata Motors was up 5.13% at $ 13.33, Sterlite Industries was up 4.4% at $ 16.15 and Dr Reddy’s Labs was up 2.6% at $ 17.37.

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