US mkts end with modest gains amid FOMC minutes, eco news

By Varinder Bansal, Research Analyst at CNBC-TV18
 
The US markets gained marginally higher amid FOMC minutes and economic news on Wednesday.

Federal Reserve raised its economic forecast and noted that risks to GDP growth have diminished and lowered outlook for core inflation to 1.25% for 2012. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 62 points at 12,288. The Nasdaq Composite was up 21 points at 2,825 and S&P 500 index rose 8 points at 1,336. US Advancing Sectors: Energy gained 1.3%, Materials went up 1.2% and Consumer Discretionary rose 0.8%. NSYE volumes remained low at 926 million shares. European shares hit fresh 29-month closing high: CAC was up 1%, DAX up 0.2% and FTSE up 0.8%. CBOE VIX rallied 2.1% at 16.72. European banking sector gained 2.6% post string results from SocGen. Banking sector had gained 16% year-to-date. US Economic News January Industrial production fell 0.1% while market expected increase of 0.6% January housing starts went up 14.6% at 596,000 against downwardly revised 5.1% decline in December. Market expected at 540,000 January building permits dropped 10.4% at 562,000 after a 15.3% jump in the prior month. Market expected at 575,000 Producer prices for January increased by 0.8% versus increase of 1.1% in December. Market expected increase of 0.7%  Global News Societe Generale rallied 5.9% after strong set of results Other European banking stocks: Royal Bank of Scotland was up 4.8%, Deutsche Bank up 3.98%, Banco Santander up 3.7% and Standrad Chartered up 3% Currencies Dollar was down 47 bps versus Euro at 1.359 Yen rose 20 bps versus USD at 83.55 Commodities Commodities gained on news that Iran is sending two warships through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean Sea March crude oil contract was up 0.8% at USD 84.99/barrel March natural gas contract declined 1.5% at USD 3.92 per MMBtu April gold was up 0.1% at USD 1375.10 per ounce March silver was down 0.2% at USD 30.63 per ounce Softs commodities went up 2.1% May sugar contract surged 3.6% and May orange juice went up 2.9%. Data to watch Weekly jobless claims, CPI, leading indicators,; Earnings from Barrick Gold, AngloGold and Nordstrom