Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.05%
U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Utilities, Telecoms and Consumer Services sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.05% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.15%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.17%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT), which rose 1.51% or 1.08 points to trade at 72.39 at the close. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) added 1.51% or 1.83 points to end at 122.73 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) was up 0.97% or 0.35 points to 36.53 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), which fell 1.53% or 3.84 points to trade at 247.35 at the close. JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) declined 0.88% or 0.80 points to end at 90.33 and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) was down 0.86% or 0.70 points to 81.08.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Foot Locker Inc (NYSE:FL) which rose 9.38% to 75.01, Intuit Inc (NASDAQ:INTU) which was up 6.06% to settle at 128.01 and Nordstrom Inc (NYSE:JWN) which gained 5.74% to close at 46.46.
The worst performers were Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE:SWN) which was down 11.98% to 7.35 in late trade, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE) which lost 6.89% to settle at 22.96 and Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) which was down 4.49% to 27.64 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Cempra Inc (NASDAQ:CEMP) which rose 28.57% to 4.050, Applied Opt (NASDAQ:AAOI) which was up 22.71% to settle at 45.98 and Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED) which gained 20.09% to close at 81.00.
The worst performers were Cumulus Media Inc (NASDAQ:CMLS) which was down 24.10% to 0.7590 in late trade, FunctionX Inc (NASDAQ:FNCX) which lost 22.48% to settle at 1.0000 and My Size Inc (NASDAQ:MYSZ) which was down 15.09% to 2.70 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1646 to 1572 and 46 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1304 fell and 1214 advanced, while 105 ended unchanged.
Shares in Intuit Inc (NASDAQ:INTU) rose to all time highs; up 6.06% or 7.31 to 128.01. Shares in Cumulus Media Inc (NASDAQ:CMLS) fell to 5-year lows; losing 24.10% or 0.2410 to 0.7590. Shares in Applied Opt (NASDAQ:AAOI) rose to all time highs; gaining 22.71% or 8.51 to 45.98. Shares in Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED) rose to all time highs; rising 20.09% or 13.55 to 81.00. Shares in My Size Inc (NASDAQ:MYSZ) fell to all time lows; losing 15.09% or 0.48 to 2.70.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.79% to 11.50.
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.53% or 6.60 to $1258.00 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 0.75% or 0.41 to hit $54.04 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract fell 0.97% or 0.55 to trade at $56.03 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.21% to 1.0559, while USD/JPY fell 0.43% to 112.13.
The US Dollar Index Futures report is in the next section.
Read additional news from Reuters at Investing.com.
The U.S. dollar headed for a third-day of losses against major currencies on Friday, as US new home sales missed expectations while consumer confidence marginally beat analysts’ estimates.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, slipped 0.04% to 101.91 and is on course to end the trading week in negative territory.
The dollar recovered from its early morning losses, but ultimately remained under pressure, after the release of mixed U.S. economic data failed to spur a broad dollar recovery.
The Commerce Department said new home sales rose 3.7 percent to a seasonally-adjusted 555,000 units but missed analysts’ estimates of a 6.3% rise in January.
U.S. consumer sentiment remained upbeat, after The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index hit 96.3 in February, compared to expectations of 96.3.
The dollar continued to be weighed down from earlier events during the week: Wednesday’s Fed minutes, revealed a reluctance among some Fed members’ to support a raise in interest rates while uncertainty over the impact of Trump’s economic policies on economic growth remained.
Elsewhere, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday, that President Trump’s pro-growth policies, which are viewed as inflationary and a boon for the dollar, will have a limited impact in 2017.
The dollar lost ground against its Canadian counterpart, after a strong bout of Canadian inflation data, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Statistics Canada reported that the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.9% In January, beating expectations of a 0.3% increase. USD/CAD traded 0.17% lower at $1.3083
GBP/USD retreated by more than 0.5% to $1.248 at 12:35 ET 5:35 GMT while EUR/USD gained 0.07% to trade higher at 1.058
Meanwhile, USD/JPY traded lower at $112.16, down 0.40%
Crude oil net lings hit an all-time high for the second week in a row. There was significant increase in bearishness for the euro and a decrease in bukkishness for the A&P 500.. All other positions we follow in this report had insignificant changes.
Note: This data is for the week ending on Tuesday so the last three days of trading are not reflected.
Gold futures continued to trade near session highs on Friday, buoyed by a slump in the dollar, as optimism concerning ‘Trumpflation’ fades while the latest batch of U.S. economic data had a limited impact on upside momentum in the yellow-metal.
Gold for April delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained $6.55 or about 0.52%, to trade at $1,257.95 a troy ounce by 13:08 ET.
Gold futures capitalized on continued pressure in the U.S. dollar with the yellow-metal hitting its highest point in 3-1/2 months in the intraday session, after the release of mixed U.S. economic data.
The Commerce Department said new home sales rose 3.7 percent to a seasonally-adjusted 555,000 units but missed analysts’ estimates of a 6.3% rise in January.
U.S. consumer sentiment remained upbeat, after The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index hit 96.3 in February, compared to expectations of 96.3.
The rally in gold futures comes as Fed minutes released on Wednesday, highlighted a reluctance among some Fed members’ to support a raise in interest rates while uncertainty over the impact of Trump’s economic policies on economic growth remained.
Elsewhere, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday, that President Trump’s pro-growth politics, which are viewed as inflationary and a boon for dollar, will have a limited impact in 2017.
Commodities across the board traded higher, as silver gained 1.25% to trade at $18.35 while copper climbed 1.2% to trade at $2.68.
Crude futures reversed gains from the previous session to settle lower on Friday, after the latest Baker Hughes U.S. oil rig count rose by 5, topping 600 for the first time since October 2015.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for April delivery slid 0.83% to settle at $53.99 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent lost 59 cents to settle at 55.99 a barrel. Despite the slump on Friday, crude ends the week 1.1% higher.
On Friday, oilfield service firm Baker Hughes reported its weekly count of U.S. oil rigs rose by 5 and topped 600 for the first time since October, 2015, which added to concerns that record U.S. crude production may curtail OPEC’s effort to drain excess supply in the industry.
Speaking at the International Petroleum Week conference in London last week, OPEC Secretary General, Mohammed Barkindo estimated that OPEC member states are about 90% in compliance with a global pact to cut production and noted the willingness of non-OPEC members to comply with the deal.
In November last year, OPEC and other producers, including Russia agreed to cut output by about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in an effort to combat the oversupply issue that has pressured prices over the last two years.
The rise in U.S. oil rigs came against a bullish report on crude inventories, released a day earlier, as the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that crude oil inventories rose by only 0.564 million compared to estimates of an increase of 3.745 million barrels.
Next week crude inventories report is likely to be closely watched by market participants.
Natural Gas (Thursday Report)
U.S. natural gas futures were higher on Thursday, after data showed that natural gas supplies in storage in the U.S. fell more than expected last week.
Natural gas for March delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 3.3 cents, or around 1.3%, to $2.625 per million British thermal units by 10:35AM ET (15:35GMT).
The more actively-traded April contract jumped 5.4 cents, or 2%, to $2.756 from $2.724 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 89 billion cubic feet in the week ended February 17, above market expectations for a drop of 85 billion cubic feet.
That compared with a withdrawal of 114 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, 117 billion a year earlier and a five-year average drop of 158 billion cubic feet.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 2.356 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2.5% lower than levels at this time a year ago and 6.6% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Prices of the heating fuel are down a whopping 28% so far this year as forecasts for warm winter weather weighed on heating demand expectations.
Futures touched the lowest level in around six months earlier this week as forecasts called for mostly warmer-than-normal weather in key regions across the U.S. for the rest of the winter.
Based on data from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, this year’s extremely warm winter has pushed heating demand for natural gas to nearly 20% below average.
About half of U.S. homes use natural gas for heating.
