Natalia Asedova, Analyst, Global Markets (Finam) On Monday, June 17, US equities ended the session in negative territory. Investors treated the housing market data optimistically ahead of the Fed’s 2-day meeting and also Fed chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech scheduled for Wednesday. Expectations that the Fed would taper off its USD 85 bn bond-buying program were priced in many times already, but investors continue to assess economic data in order to define the regulator’s future course of action. Specifically, in line with the numbers disclosed Monday the NAHB Current Conditions and Expectations Index improved in June from 44 to 52, beating analysts’ forecasts of 45. In addition, 9 of the S&P 500 Index’s 10 major industry groups advanced, led by energy and tech plays. As for the indexes, the blue-chip benchmark Dow added 0.73% to 15,179.85, the broader market index S&P 500 advanced 0.76% to 1,639.04 and technology-focused Nasdaq climbed 0.83% to settle at 3,452.13. In commodities, NYMEX light, sweet crude for July delivery fell less than 0.1% to USD 97.77/bbl. COMEX gold futures for August delivery slipped 0.3% to USD 1,383.10/oz. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note widened from 2.13% to 2.17%. Construction industry stocks rode high on the heels of robust housing numbers. In particular, Toll Brothers and KB Home surged 2.4% and 1.7%, respectively. In individual stock movers, the world’s leading video-streaming service Netflix spiked 7.1% on news it inked a multi-year accord with DreamWorks Animation for original programming. The gains were also led by leading US microchip maker Micron Technology that climbed 3.8% to USD 13.24 after Citigroup analysts raised their target price to USD 19.00. American pork processor Smithfield Foods also outperformed the broader market on news Shuanghui International Holdings could make a USD 4.7 bn acquisition offer. In the upshot, Smithfield shares added 0.85%.