Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks mixed at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.49%
U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Friday, as gains in the Telecoms, Utilities and Oil & Gas sectors led shares higher while losses in the Consumer Services, Technology and Industrials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.49%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.22%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.15%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV), which rose 2.53% or 3.18 points to trade at 128.77 at the close. Meanwhile, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 2.33% or 6.17 points to end at 271.11 and McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) was up 2.20% or 4.03 points to 187.59 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT), which fell 1.86% or 1.85 points to trade at 97.69 at the close. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) declined 1.65% or 5.62 points to end at 335.95 and Visa Inc (NYSE:V) was down 1.17% or 1.66 points to 140.18.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Pacific Gas & Electric Co (NYSE:PCG) which rose 37.54% to 24.40, Edison International (NYSE:EIX) which was up 15.38% to settle at 54.45 and NetApp Inc (NASDAQ:NTAP) which gained 4.38% to close at 71.89.
The worst performers were NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) which was down 18.76% to 164.43 in late trade, Nordstrom Inc (NYSE:JWN) which lost 13.66% to settle at 50.93 and Activision Blizzard Inc (NASDAQ:ATVI) which was down 4.89% to 50.94 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were TESARO Inc (NASDAQ:TSRO) which rose 31.48% to 34.96, EMC Insurance Group Inc (NASDAQ:EMCI) which was up 30.26% to settle at 31.25 and The Dixie Group Inc (NASDAQ:DXYN) which gained 15.98% to close at 0.980.
The worst performers were Rewalk Robotics Ltd (NASDAQ:RWLK) which was down 45.45% to 0.24 in late trade, Limbach Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:LMB) which lost 27.46% to settle at 6.05 and Euroseas Ltd (NASDAQ:ESEA) which was down 25.45% to 1.230 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1606 to 1455 and 96 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1386 fell and 1231 advanced, while 106 ended unchanged.
Shares in NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) fell to 52-week lows; losing 18.76% or 37.96 to 164.43. Shares in Activision Blizzard Inc (NASDAQ:ATVI) fell to 52-week lows; down 4.89% or 2.62 to 50.94. Shares in McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) rose to all time highs; gaining 2.20% or 4.03 to 187.59. Shares in Rewalk Robotics Ltd (NASDAQ:RWLK) fell to all time lows; losing 45.45% or 0.20 to 0.24. Shares in EMC Insurance Group Inc (NASDAQ:EMCI) rose to all time highs; rising 30.26% or 7.26 to 31.25. Shares in Limbach Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:LMB) fell to all time lows; falling 27.46% or 2.29 to 6.05.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 9.21% to 18.14.
Gold Futures for December delivery was up 1.88% or 22.60 to $1221.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 0.60% or 0.34 to hit $56.80 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 0.51% or 0.34 to trade at $66.96 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.76% to 1.1414, while USD/JPY fell 0.70% to 112.86.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.49% at 96.32.
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Mexico stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/BMV IPC up 2.19%
Canada stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/TSX Composite up 0.06%
S&P, Dow advance on trade optimism; Nvidia sinks Nasdaq (Reuters)
GE Fall Sets Up Worst Month Since Depths of 2009 Bear Market (Bloomberg)
The dollar swooped lower against its rivals Friday, and looked set to snap a four-week winning streak, after Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida flagged concerns about global growth and delivered somewhat dovish remarks on monetary policy.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose by 0.46% to 96.35.
Clarida told CNBC on Friday the Fed is getting closer to a neutral rate — one that neither overstimulates the economy, nor stifles growth — and cited “some evidence” that global economy is slowing.
Clarida’s remarks was viewed as dovish, sending the dollar tumbling, leading some to speculate whether the Fed would pause its gradual rate hikes sooner than expected, despite analysts downplaying the remarks.
RBC said that the market reactions to interpretations of the Fed “seem completely backwards,” as there was “nothing in the economic data has shifted the Fed’s growth and inflation outlook.”
Economic data offered little in the way of support for the greenback, as industrial production fell short of economists’ estimates.
Industrial production, a measure of output at factories, mines and utilities, rose a 0.1% in October, the Federal Reserve said Friday. This was slightly below the 0.2% riseforecast by economists.
A rebound in the pound following its worst slump of the year Thursday also kept a lid on the greenback, as traders were relieved that no additional ministers had resigned from UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s government as she prepares to sell her deal to parliament and could face another leadership challenge.
GBP/USD rose 0.45% to $1.2832, EUR/USD rose 0.72% to $1.1410.
USD/JPY traded fell 0.74% to Y112.81 and USD/CAD fell 0.14% to C$$1.3160. The loonie was underpinned by strong oil prices, which rebounded for a third-straight day Friday.
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Theresa May could be fighting for her political survival, but the Brexit crisis she’s in has thrown gold bulls a lifeline.
Initially resigned to losing the market’s $1,200 support level as the week began, fans of the yellow metal not only got to stay in their comfort zone but also saw their best weekly gain in five as hedgers rushed to the relative safely of bullion after the pounding taken by sterling from Britan’s EU-exit woes.
COMEX gold futures for December delivery settled up $8, or 0.7%, at $1,223 per troy ounce after running up to $1,225.90 earlier. For the week, it rose 1.4%, its best gain since the week ended Oct. 5.
Bullion bears have hoped to send gold sharply below $1,200, a support in place since September, to exploit further weakness in the $1,100 levels. George Gero, precious metals analyst at RBC Wealth Management in New York., said:
“Gold continues steady rally from Brexit worries.”
After her unpopular Brexit draft unveiled earlier in the week, UK Prime Minister May was battling to halt a growing revolt from the Tory right as half a dozen more backbenchers came out in favor of a no-confidence vote against her, with signs more MPs would join next week.
The U.K. political drama aside, gold was also propped up by flagging hopes for a US-China trade settlement after a senior Trump administration official was quoted telling Reuters that Beijing’s written response to U.S. demands, received earlier this week, was unlikely to result in a deal.
The dollar, a contrarian trade to gold, also contributed to the yellow metal’s advance, sliding 0.5%.
Among other precious metals on COMEX, silver rose 3.1% to $14.38 per ounce.
Palladium surged 1.9 % to $1,158.90 per ounce, while sister metal platinum rose 0.3% to $847.70.
In base metals, COMEX copper rose 1.7% to $2.80 per pound.
- Gold prices settle up by more than 1% for the week; palladium futures log another record (MarketWatch)
Oil bears are back to taunting Saudi Arabia by pressuring the market again, just two days after giving a reprieve to the record sellfoff in crude.
West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude futures settled steady to slightly higher on Friday after rallying more than 2% earlier in the day on fears that the oil-rich kingdom and the OPEC cartel it leads could cut supplies substantially at a December 6-7 meeting. Friday’s rebound didn’t help crude’s weekly loss of 6%, making it the sixth-straight week in the red.
Prices initially rallied during the day on an analysis from tanker-tracking firm ClipperData that showed Saudi Arabia was already loading fewer barrels on ships bound for the United States this month, continuing a trend that began in September.
By sending fewer barrels to the United States, the Saudis hope to starve U.S. crude stockpiles, which have swelled by nearly 50 million barrels the past eight weeks. It’s a strategy the kingdom used last year while working alongside OPEC members, Russia and other producers to rescue oil prices from lows under $50 a barrel.
But after the morning highs in New York trade, prices turned volatile before returning to positive territory just before the close.
Adding pressure to the market was weekly U.S. oil rig data showing drilling activity at its highest in over three years, after an addition of two rigs this week.
“We need a lot more” positive data, Scott Shelton, broker at ICAP (LON:NXGN) in Durham, N.C., said in his daily oil note that underscored what many analysts were saying: for a rebound to last, the market needs to be jolted with substantial cuts.
U.S. WTI settled flat at $56.46 per barrel after rallying by almost $1.50 earlier in the session. On Wednesday, WTI hit a one-year low of $55.13. With Friday’s settlement, it remains about 27% lower from four-year highs of nearly $77 hit in early October.
U.K. Brent settled up 14 cents at $66.76 per barrel, after rallying as much as $1.76 earlier. Earlier in the week, Brent plumbed an eight-month low of $64.61 and remains some 23% lower from last month’s peak of nearly $87.
For the week, WTI lost a little more than 6%, while Brent was down by almost 5%.
Since Tuesday’s epic 7% plunge, oil prices have turned choppy as bears turned somewhat cautious after a Reuters report that the Saudis planned to cut global supplies by as much as 1.4 million bpd from an initial planned reduction of 1 million bpd.
The aggressive Saudi stance came amid rising anger in Riyadh at President Donald Trump for giving generous waivers on Iranian oil sanctions after vowing at first to bring Tehran crude exports to zero. It was Trump’s war of words against the Islamic Republic that caused oil prices to spike to four-year highs over a five-month period through October, before the waivers led to a record 12-day selloff.
Phil Flynn at Chicago’s Price Futures Group said:
“The Saudis’ are still simmering after being hoodwinked, bamboozled and snookered and fooled by President Donald Trump. It appears they feel they have been taken by the art of the deal maker and they want to get oil production cut revenge.”
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Natural Gas (FXEmpire)
Natural gas prices whipsawed testing support and then surging higher to close up more than 7% on the session. This weeks roller-coaster ride was rumored to have been driven by a short-squeeze which forced traders that were short natural gas and long oil to dump their positions. The lower than average inventories combined with colder than normal weather is likely to reduce stockpiles. Inventories are at the low end of the average range but prices remain well below the 6.25 highs seen in 2014.
Technical Analysis
Natural gas prices rebounded off support near the 10-day moving average at 3.90 and rose throughout the trading session, finishing up more than 7% on the day. Resistance is seen near this weeks highs at 4.92. Momentum is positive as the MACD (moving average convergence divergence) histogram prints in the black with an upward sloping trajectory which points to higher prices. Momentum as reflected by the fast stochastic is neutral. The retracement of 18% following an 18% up day, leaves prices up 16% on the week.
Supply is Unchanged
Supply flat as Canadian imports increase. According to data the EIA, the average total supply of natural gas remained the unchanged averaging 91.3 Bcf per day. Dry natural gas production decreased by 1% compared with the previous report week. Average net imports from Canada increased by 19% from last week. Much of this increase can be attributed to increased U.S. imports from Canada.
Demand Was Robust
Demand rises significantly with higher consumption in the residential sectors. Total U.S. consumption of natural gas rose by 27% compared with the previous report week, according to data from the EIA as cooler-than-normal weather blanketed most of the Lower 48 states. This increase was led by the residential and commercial sectors, where consumption increased by 58%. Natural gas consumed for power generation climbed 16% week over week. Industrial sector consumption increased by 7% week over week. Natural gas exports to Mexico decreased 2%.
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