US markets post best first quarter performance since 1998

By Varinder Bansal, Research Analyst at CNBC-TV18

The US markets posted its best first quarter performance since 1998.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 71.6 points at 12,350. The Nasdaq Composite was up 20 points at 2,777 and S&P 500 Index up 9 points at 1,328.

Telecom sector continued to gain in the US markets; rallied about 5% week to date.

Strength was also witnessed in small-cap stocks that took the Russell 2000 to its highest level since 2008.

US Advancing Sectors: Telecom gained 1.4%, Materials went up 1.2%, Energy rose 0.8% and Financials gained 0.7%.

NYSE total volume traded was at 919 million shares compared to an average of above 1 billion shares.

Asian markets opened marginally in the green; Hang Seng was up 0.56%, Straits Times up 0.33%, Taiwan up 0.25%, Kospi up 0.2% and Nikkei up 0.15%. Shanghai was flat.

Europe shares hit 3-week closing high; CAC was up 0.92%, DAX up 1.77% and FTSE up 0.27%.

CBOE VIX ended down 2.5% at 17.71.

Alert: Irish banks stress test results are expected today.

US economic news

ADP Employment suggests that private payrolls increased by 201,000 in March while market expected increase of 210,000

Currencies

Dollar was down 35 bps versus Euro at 1.4136

Yen was down 7 bps versus USD at 82.89

Commodities

May crude oil contract was down 0.5% at USD 104.27/barrel

April gold contract went up 0.5% at USD 1423.8/ounce

May silver contract gained 1.4% at USD 37.51/ounce

May natural gas contract rose 2.1% at USD 4.36 per MMBtu.

Data to watch

Weekly jobless claims, Chicago PMI, factory orders

German jobs report