MoneyVidya.com Blog Network

Friday proved to be an extremely slow, but modestly higher session at the US markets. The big headline of the day came late morning when a government source said it would announce information on the bank stress tests late afternoon on Thursday, May 7 instead of Monday, May 4 as announced earlier. The Dow closed 44.29 points higher (+0.54%) to end the day at 8,212.41. The index rose marginally as it opened, and then consolidated those gains through the day. The NASDAQ closed 1.90 points higher (+0.11%) to finish at 1,719.20.

It was a mixed day for the Indian ADRs, with a lot of them closing flat on Friday. HDFC Bank (HDB) was the biggest gainer, up 0.92% to close at $74.94. Infosys Technologies (INFY) was the biggest loser, down 0.11%, closing at $30.70.

The swine flu did not have much of an impact on the European markets, with most of them remaining reasonably bouyant on Friday. The UK’s FTSE closed 0.49 points down (-0.01%), ending at 4,243. Germany’s DAX closed 64.89 points higher (+1.38%), ending trading at 4,769.

As of 9:50 am IST, Asian markets were seeing significant gains. Japan’s Nikkei is currently trading 149.11 points higher, up 1.69%. The Hang Seng is currently trading 569.40 points higher, up 3.67%.

WTI Brent crude oil closed at $53.28 per barrel, up $0.08 (+0.15%). Nymex light crude June futures closed at $53.40, up $0.20 (+0.38%). June COMEX gold futures closed at $892.30 per ounce, up $4.10 (+0.46%).

As of 9:55 am IST, the Yen (¥) fell against the USD, by ¥0.34 to ¥99.43. The Euro (€) rose €0.0035 to €0.7501 against the dollar. The Pound (£) rose by £0.0016 to £0.6688 against the dollar.