US mkts end flat as no major cues from FOMC minutes

By Varinder Bansal, Research Analyst at CNBC-TV18

The US markets ended flat as no major cues from FOMC minutes. Commodities witnessed profit booking on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 21 points at 11691; the Nasdaq Composite was down 10 points at 2681 and S&P 500 down 2 points at 1270. Russell 2000 (small-cap) fell 1.6% while the S&P 400 (mid-cap) was down 1.1%. European markets ended mixed: CAC was up 0.4% while DAX down 0.2%. FTSE rose 1.93% (opened after 2 days). Asian markets opened almost flat; Kospi was down 0.3%. Nikkei and Straits Times were flat. Taiwan rose 0.2%. FOMC minutes Economic recovery hadn't gained enough strength to warrant a change in the Fed's USD 600 billion bond-buying program Concerned about downside risk, especially as it relates to housing Global Economic News US factory orders for November increased 0.7% after declining 0.7% in October; market expected decline of 0.3% Currencies Dollar Index rose 0.3% on Tuesday Dollar was up 67 bps versus Euro at 1.3267 Yen lost 27 bps versus USD at 82.12 Commodities CRB Commodity Index fell 1.6% Precious metals shed 3.6% and soft commodities were down 2.7% March silver shed 5.1% at USD 29.51/ounce February gold contract was down 3.2% at USD 1378.8/ounce February crude oil contract was down 2.4% at USD 89.38/barrel, hit its worst levels in nearly 2 weeks during the day February natural gas was up 0.1% at USD 4.66 per MMBtu Baltic Dry Index was down 4.5%. Sugar was down 3.2%. Data to watch MBA mortgage applications, Challenger job-cut report, ADP employment report, ISM non-manufacturing index, oil inventories