Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.01%
U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Utilities, Technology and Consumer Goods sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.01%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.01%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.20%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were American Express Company (NYSE:AXP), which rose 1.70% or 2.08 points to trade at 124.72 at the close. Meanwhile, Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:V) added 1.37% or 2.50 points to end at 185.14 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) was up 1.36% or 3.69 points to 275.15 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW), which fell 2.15% or 1.17 points to trade at 53.28 at the close. Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) declined 1.58% or 1.11 points to end at 69.23 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was down 1.33% or 4.62 points to 341.67.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) which rose 6.07% to 35.64, CenterPoint Energy Inc (NYSE:CNP) which was up 4.51% to settle at 25.94 and Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE) which gained 3.92% to close at 317.94.
The worst performers were Hanesbrands Inc (NYSE:HBI) which was down 5.14% to 14.40 in late trade, Coty Inc (NYSE:COTY) which lost 5.06% to settle at 11.08 and L Brands Inc (NYSE:LB) which was down 4.22% to 17.70 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were China Ceramics Co Ltd (NASDAQ:CCCL) which rose 32.50% to 1.0600, Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT) which was up 31.43% to settle at 132.050 and Adial Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ADIL) which gained 30.95% to close at 2.20.
The worst performers were Aethlon Medical Inc (NASDAQ:AEMD) which was down 47.85% to 1.040 in late trade, Gridsum Holding Inc (NASDAQ:GSUM) which lost 30.14% to settle at 1.53 and Aquestive Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:AQST) which was down 21.34% to 5.27 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1433 to 1370 and 103 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1437 fell and 1217 advanced, while 80 ended unchanged.
Shares in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 6.07% or 2.04 to 35.64. Shares in Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE) rose to all time highs; up 3.92% or 11.98 to 317.94. Shares in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose to all time highs; rising 1.36% or 3.69 to 275.15. Shares in Aethlon Medical Inc (NASDAQ:AEMD) fell to all time lows; falling 47.85% or 0.954 to 1.040.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 9.40% to 12.63.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.54% or 7.90 to $1480.20 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 1.00% or 0.59 to hit $59.77 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 1.14% or 0.73 to trade at $64.93 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.05% to 1.1122, while USD/JPY rose 0.04% to 109.33.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.21% at 97.178.
See also:
Forex (There is no Invetsing.com report on the U.S.dollar market for Friday this week.)
See:
- EURJPY Price Heading Towards the Supply Level of $122 After the Breakout at $120 Level (CryptoVibes)
- Pound Japanese Yen (GBP/JPY) Exchange Rate Plummets from Post-Referendum Highs (Future Currency Forecast)
- Euro US Dollar Exchange Rate Steady, European Leaders Brace for UK’s Brexit after Tory Election Victory (EERN)
Gold bulls seem determined to show their disbelief that the China deal touted by President Donald Trump will do magic. They sent prices higher Friday, as the yellow metal remained a hedge to the 17-month trade war.
Autocatalyst metal palladium, meanwhile, closed lower after overwriting gold’s all-time high on Thursday. But the spot price of palladium came within less than $20 of the $2,000 per ounce level targeted by fund managers before sliding on profit-taking.
Gold futures for February delivery on New York’s COMEX settled up $8.90, or 0.6%, at $1,481.20 per ounce after the Trump Administration announced a China trade deal with scant details.
Spot gold, which tracks live trades in bullion, rose $7.82, or 0.5%, to $1,477.15 by 3:00 PM ET (20:00 GMT).
Spot gold is up 15% on the year, while gold futures are showing a 13% gain.
Adam Sarhan, chief executive at 50 Park Investments in Orlando, Fla., said:
“Gold bulls believe there are more unknowns than knowns with this trade deal and that’s why gold prices haven’t really fallen much in recent days.”
The spot price of palladium hit record highs for a 16th day in a row on continued worries about the power crisis in South Africa that shut down mines in the No.2 palladium producer. Spot palladium was down $16.43, or 0.9%, at $1,923.73. It earlier hit an all-time high of $1,981.50.
Palladium futures for March delivery on Comex settled down $22.60, or 1.2%, at $1,891.60, after setting record highs at $1,958.30.
Palladium futures are up 60% on the year, while spot palladium has gained 51%, easily making the metal, which serves as a purifying agent for gasoline emissions, the best-performing commodity of 2019.
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The oil market has bought Trump’s China deal more than the stock market has.
Crude futures hit three-month highs on Friday, with U.S. West Texas Intermediate breaching the $60 per barrel resistance long eyed by oil bulls and U.K. Brent crossing the key $65 milestone, after the Trump administration announced a China trade deal with scant details.
On Wall Street, stocks fell from early highs in volatile trading as investors remained confused about signs of trade progress between the two countries after 17 months of tit-for-tat tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of imports and often acrimonious remarks that had weighed not just on their individual economies, but also world growth.
NYMEX-traded WTI, the U.S. crude benchmark, settled up 89 cents, or 1.5%, at $60.07 per barrel. It earlier reached $60.45 per barrel, a level not seen since the September attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities that briefly knocked out about 5% of world supply.
ICE-traded Brent, the global oil benchmark, settled up $1.02, or 1.6%, at $65.22, after a three-month high at $65.75.
For the week, WTI was up more than 1%, extending last week’s 7% gain that put on track to a near 9% rise for December, its strongest month since June. Year-to-date, the U.S. crude benchmark has risen nearly 32%.
Brent gained 1% on the week, 4% on the month and 21% on the year.
Adam Sarhan, chief executive at 50 Park Investments in Orlando, Florida. said:
“Oil is probably catching up after playing laggard to Wall Street, which had gone gung-ho in recent days on the hype over the likelihood of a trade deal. With stocks, it’s a classic case of buy-the-rumor-sell-the-fact. And that’s accentuated by the fact that there are scant details so far on this deal, and the devil is really in the details with something like this.”
In separate announcements, China and the U.S. said they had struck their long-awaited phase-1 deal, the first formal steps toward de-escalating a fight that has weighed on the world economy for a year and a half.
With no telecast of a signing ceremony, the two sides also created the notion of an announcement done for political expediency. President Donald Trump appears eager to announce as many wins as possible amid his impeachment inquiry in Congress, while China’s President Xi Jinping is under pressure to halt additional U.S. tariffs due on some $165 billion of Chinese imports beginning this weekend.
Indeed, Trump said he would not proceed with the new tariffs on China while the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said the administration will be maintaining its earlier tariffs of 25% on about $250 billion of Chinese imports, along with 7.5% duty on about $120 billion of other goods.
Oil prices were weakened earlier in the week after a surprise rise in crude stockpiles and huge builds in gasoline inventories and distillates stocks.
Crude markets were also weakened by the Paris-based International Energy Agency’s monthly report that said global inventories could rise sharply through March despite an agreement by OPEC and its allies to remove as much as 2.1 million barrels, or 2.1% of global supply, each day.
OPEC, in its own monthly report this week, said it expected a small oil supply deficit instead for next year.
See also:
- Oil Prices Advance as Trump Reportedly Agrees to Partial Trade Deal with China
- Oil up on Trump Tweet, Report Suggesting No Higher China Tariffs
Natural Gas (No report this week)
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