Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.48%
U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Oil & Gas and Utilities sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.48% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.36%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.33%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which rose 2.50% or 2.35 points to trade at 96.31 at the close. Meanwhile, Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) added 1.65% or 0.91 points to end at 56.22 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was up 1.19% or 1.95 points to 166.23 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), which fell 1.62% or 0.67 points to trade at 40.58 at the close. Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) declined 1.53% or 1.06 points to end at 68.02 and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) was down 0.79% or 0.70 points to 87.97.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Activision Blizzard Inc (NASDAQ:ATVI) which rose 18.88% to 47.23, CBRE Group Inc (NYSE:CBG) which was up 7.70% to settle at 34.00 and News Corp A (NASDAQ:NWSA) which gained 7.26% to close at 13.29.
The worst performers were Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ:CERN) which was down 4.42% to 51.50 in late trade, Envision Healthcare Corp (NYSE:EVHC) which lost 3.43% to settle at 68.44 and Teradata Corporation (NYSE:TDC) which was down 3.24% to 31.68 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were KBS Fashion Group Ltd (NASDAQ:KBSF) which rose 175.19% to 10.8700, Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG) which was up 38.82% to settle at 1.180 and Sierra Wireless Inc (NASDAQ:SWIR) which gained 31.10% to close at 24.45.
The worst performers were Biostage Inc (NASDAQ:BSTG) which was down 40.27% to 0.300 in late trade, Wins Finance Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:WINS) which lost 22.84% to settle at 297.00 and iPass Inc (NASDAQ:IPAS) which was down 21.25% to 1.2600 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2286 to 933 and 45 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1652 rose and 834 declined, while 146 ended unchanged.
Shares in Activision Blizzard Inc (NASDAQ:ATVI) rose to all time highs; rising 18.88% or 7.50 to 47.23. Shares in CBRE Group Inc (NYSE:CBG) rose to 52-week highs; rising 7.70% or 2.43 to 34.00. Shares in KBS Fashion Group Ltd (NASDAQ:KBSF) rose to 3-years highs; gaining 175.19% or 6.9200 to 10.8700. Shares in Biostage Inc (NASDAQ:BSTG) fell to all time lows; down 40.27% or 0.203 to 0.300. Shares in Sierra Wireless Inc (NASDAQ:SWIR) rose to 52-week highs; up 31.10% or 5.80 to 24.45.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.46% to 10.83.
Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.15% or 1.80 to $1235.00 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 1.49% or 0.79 to hit $53.79 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 1.83% or 1.02 to trade at $56.65 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.23% to 1.0634, while USD/JPY rose 0.10% to 113.36.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.11% at 100.77.
Read additional news from Reuters at Investing.com.
The dollar remained broadly higher against other major currencies on Friday, despite the release of disappointing U.S. consumer sentiment dats, as recent comments by U.S. President Donald Trump continued to lend support.
EUR/USD slid 0.30% to a fresh two-week low of 1.0627.
In a preliminary report, the University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index fell to 95.7 in February from 98.5 the previous month, compared to expectations for a slip to 97.9.
But the dollar remained supported after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would announce the most ambitious tax reform plan since the Reagan era in the next few weeks.
During a meeting with airline CEOs on Thursday, Trump promised a “phenomenal” tax plan, without giving any specific details of the plan.
Meanwhile, sentiment on the euro was still fragile amid concerns over the possibility of a Brexit or Trump-style shock result in France’s upcoming presidential election.
Worries over elections in the Netherlands, Germany and possibly Italy, as well as the ongoing row over Greece’s bailout added to concerns over political risk in the euro area.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD fell 0.22% to 1.2469.
The pound shrugged off an earlier report by the U.K. Office for National Statistics showing that manufacturing production rose 2.1% in December, beating expectations for a 0.5% gain. Year-on-year, manufacturing production increased by 4.0% in December.
The report also showed that industrial production rose 1.1% in December, more than the expected 0.2% gain.
Data also showed that the U.K. trade deficit narrowed to £10.89 billion in December from a revised £11.56 billion in November.
USD/JPY added 0.27% to 113.55, the highest since February 1, while USD/CHF gained 0.30% to 1.0047.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Trump were set to hold a two-day summit in the U.S., starting on Friday. Trade and currency issues were expected to be in the spotlight.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were higher, with AUD/USD up 0.60% at 0.7669 and with NZD/USD adding 0.13% to 0.7196.
The two currencies were helped by earlier data showing that China’s imports climbed by an annualized rate of 16.7% in January, while exports rose 7.9%.
China is Australia’s biggest export partner and New Zealand’s second biggest export partner.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD dropped 0.54% to trade at 1.3074.
The loonie was boosted after Statistics Canada reported that the number of employed people rose by 48,300 in January, confounding expectations for a 5,000 decline.
The report also showed that Canada’s unemployment rate ticked down to 6.8% last month from 6.9% in December. Analysts had expected an unchanged reading in January.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.11% at a two-week high of 100.77.
This week saw very minor changes in speculative positions.
Note: This data is for the week ending on Tuesday so the last three days of trading are not reflected.
Gold (Early Friday AM report)
Gold prices tumbled on Friday, as the U.S. dollar remained broadly supported following recent comments by U.S. President Donald Trump on tax reform and an upbeat jobless claims report added to optimism over the strength of the U.S. economy.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery were down 1.12% at $1,223.00, the lowest since February 6.
The April contract ended Thursday’s session 0.22% lower at $1,236.80 an ounce.
Futures were likely to find support at $1,206.20, the low of February 3 and resistance at $1,243.50, Thursday’s high.
The dollar strengthened after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would announce the most ambitious tax reform plan since the Reagan era in the next few weeks.
During a meeting with airline CEOs on Thursday, Trump promised a “phenomenal” tax plan, without giving any specific details of the plan.
The comments came after the U.S. Department of Labor said initial jobless claimsdecreased by 12,000 to 234,000 in the week ending February 4. Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 4,000.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 100.69, just off a two-week high of 100.75 hit overnight.
Elsewhere in metals trading, silver futures for March delivery lost 1.01% to $17.562 a troy ounce, while copper futures for March delivery gained 0.77% to $2.675 a pound.
Copper prices remained under pressure however, as workers at the Escondida copper mine in Chile, the largest in the world, launched a strike on Thursday.
The workers union has warned that the strike could be lengthy, potentially affecting global supplies.
Chile is the world’s biggest producer of the red metal, providing almost a third of the world’s supply.
Editor’s note: Gold recovered in afternoon trading in New York to end the week at $1,235, down $1.80 (-0.15%) from Thursday’s close.
Crude prices rallied in the U.S. on Friday as the International Energy Agency said global supply and demand is falling into balance.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude for March delivery rose 1.62% to settle at $53.86 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent gained 1.92% to $55.70 a barrel.
Global oil output dropped 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in January, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday, putting supply and demand on a path to balance later in this year after a major glut of crude on the markiet for nearly two years.
Key to the drop was a coordinated pledge by OPEC and non-OPEC nations led by Russia to trim nearly 1.8 million bpd on averag in the first six months of this year with compliance a touch over 90% in January, led by the world top exporter Saudi Arabia, IEA said. the Paris-based IEA further said.
“Some producers, notably Saudi Arabia, (are) appearing to cut by more than required. This first cut is certainly one of the deepest in the history of OPEC output cut initiatives.”
If the January level of compliance is maintained, IEA said, output reductions combined with strong demand growth should help ease the record stocks overhang in the next six months by around 600,000 bpd.
Elsewhere, oil rigs at work in the U.S. rose by 8 to 591 by the end of last week, according to oilfield services firm Baker Hughes, marking the most since the week of Oct. 23, 2015 when the count stood at 594.
The number of gas-only rigs rose 4 to 149, bringing active oil and gas rigs to 741, up by 12.
Natural Gas (Thursday Report)
U.S. natural gas futures were higher on Thursday, albeit off the best levels of the session after data showed that natural gas supplies in storage in the U.S. fell broadly in line with expectations last week.
Natural gas for March delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 0.9 cents, or around 0.3%, to $3.138 per million British thermal units by 10:40AM ET (15:40GMT). Futures were at around $3.171 prior to the release of the supply data.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. declined by 152 billion cubic feet in the week ended February 3, compared to market expectations for a drop of 153 billion cubic feet.
That compared with a withdrawal of 87 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, 70 billion a year earlier and a five-year average drop of 138 billion cubic feet.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 2.559 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 11.3% lower than levels at this time a year ago and 1.8% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Prices of the heating fuel are down around 17% so far this year as forecasts for warm winter weather weighed on heating demand expectations.
Natural gas markets have been volatile in recent weeks, changing course rapidly in response to shifting outlooks in short-term weather patterns.
About half of U.S. homes use natural gas for heating.
