Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks mixed at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.29
U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Friday, as gains in the Consumer Goods, Industrials and Basic Materials sectors led shares higher while losses in the Technology, Healthcare and Utilities sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.29%, while the S&P 500index climbed 0.15%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.06%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which rose 10.96% or 5.83 points to trade at 59.00 at the close. Meanwhile,Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) added 1.72% or 1.82 points to end at 107.46 and Home DepotInc (NYSE:HD) was up 0.81% or 1.24 points to 153.40 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), which fell 1.12% or 2.51 points to trade at 221.90 at the close. Visa Inc (NYSE:V) declined 0.68% or 0.64 points to end at 93.78 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was down 0.39% or 0.25 points to 64.09.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) which rose 10.96% to 59.00, Quanta Services Inc (NYSE:PWR) which was up 3.26% to settle at 32.92 and Mattel Inc (NASDAQ:MAT) which gained 3.16% to close at 21.53.
The worst performers were Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) which was down 5.12% to 29.86 in late trade, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN) which lost 3.68% to settle at 491.14 and Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) which was down 3.33% to 88.60 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Bioblast Pharma Ltd (NASDAQ:ORPN) which rose 42.55% to 0.670, Sears Canada Inc (NASDAQ:SRSC) which was up 43.21% to settle at 0.802 and West Marine Inc (NASDAQ:WMAR) which gained 33.16% to close at 12.85.
The worst performers were Cara Therapeutic (NASDAQ:CARA) which was down 39.67% to 15.39 in late trade, Moleculin Biotech Inc (NASDAQ:MBRX) which lost 37.04% to settle at 1.87 and NXT-ID Inc (NASDAQ:NXTD) which was down 34.84% to 1.8700 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1887 to 1226 and 143 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1305 fell and 1175 advanced, while 150 ended unchanged.
Shares in West Marine Inc (NASDAQ:WMAR) rose to 52-week highs; up 33.16% or 3.20 to 12.85.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 2.71% to 11.13.
Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.28% or 3.52 to $1242.28 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 2.89% or 1.30 to hit $46.23 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 2.71% or 1.29 to trade at $48.92 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.17% to 1.1422, while USD/JPY rose 0.24% to 112.46.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.08% at 95.40.
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Read more news from Reuters at Investing.com: Wall Street ends bumpy week, strong 1st half with modest gain.
The dollar rose against a basket of global currencies on Friday, on the back of mostly upbeat economic data but overall sentiment remained bearish as the greenback posted its worst quarter in seven years amid a surge in rival currencies.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose by 0.15% to 95.46.
The dollar looks set to snap a three day losing streak after data showed inflation eased slightly for the month of May while U.S. manufacturing and consumer sentiment data topped expectations.
Core PCE, a key measure of inflation the Federal Reserve considers in its interest rate decisions, dipped to 1.4% year-over-year in May, from 1.5% in the previous month.
It was the third month in a row that inflation has dipped, leaving it well below the Fed’s target of around 2%.
Meanwhile, manufacturing activity showed no signs of a slowdown, after The Chicago Purchasing Management Index, climbed to 65.7, its highest since May 2014, from 59.4 in May.
Analysts had forecast a figure of 58.0 for June.
The upbeat manufacturing report came ahead of a report showing U.S. consumer sentiment fell less than expected to 95.1 in June, from 97.1 in May.
Despite the upbeat day for the dollar, it has struggled to recoup losses sustained in recent sessions and remained on course to post its worst quarterly performance in seven years after several of its rivals soared in the wake of hawkish comments from central bank leaders.
GBP/USD traded flat at $1.3009, as UK economic growth, measured by gross domestic product, matched analysts’ expectations of a 2% rise.
EUR/USD pared gains, falling to $1.1410, down 0.27%, despite better than expected Eurozone inflation data, fuelling expectations that the European Central Bank would began tapering its ultra-low monetary policy measures.
USD/CAD edged below C$1.30, as the oil-linked Canadian dollar continued its recent ascend amid a recovery in oil prices.
USD/JPY traded at Y112.32, up 0.11%.
This week bullishness increased for the euro and the Mexican peso; bullishness decreased for gold, silver, and the yen; bearishness decreased significantly for the loonie.
Note: This data is for the week ending on Tuesday so the last three days (this week two because markets were closed Friday) of trading are not reflected.
Gold prices traded below breakeven, as investor demand for the yellow metal eased on the back of a trio of mostly upbeat economic reports suggesting that the U.S. economy remained robust.
Gold futures for August delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $3.07, or 0.25%, to $1,242.53 a troy ounce.
Gold is on course to post its first monthly loss this year, as better than expected manufacturing and consumer sentiment data underpinned a move higher in the greenback, lessening demand for dollar-dominated gold.
Manufacturing activity showed no signs of a slowdown, after The Chicago Purchasing Management Index, climbed to 65.7, its highest since May 2014, from 59.4 in May.
Analysts had forecast a figure of 58.0 for June.
The upbeat manufacturing report came ahead of a report showing U.S. consumer sentiment fell less than expected to 95.1 in June, from 97.1 in May.
Meanwhile, Core PCE, a key measure of inflation the Federal Reserve considers in its interest rate decisions, dipped to 1.4% year-over-year in May, from 1.5% in the previous month.
Gold has struggled to pare losses amid a flurry of comments from central banks signalling that ultra-low accommodative monetary policy measures may be nearing the end, resulting in an uptick in global bond yields, decreasing demand for non-interest bearing gold.
Gold is sensitive to moves higher in both bond yields and the U.S. dollar – A stronger dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of foreign currency while a rise in U.S. rates, lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion.
In other precious metals trade, silver futures rose 0.13% to $16.607, a troy ounce while platinum futures gained 0.23% to $925.20.
Copper traded at $2.713, up 0.65%, while natural gas, dipped by 1.35% to $2.998.
Crude futures extended gains for the seventh day in a row as data showed the number of active U.S. drilling rigs declined for the first time since January suggesting that U.S. production could be tightening, easing oversupply jitters.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for August delivery added $1.11 to settle at $46.04 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent gained $0.53 flat at $48.60 a barrel.
Oilfield services firm Barker Hughes reported its weekly U.S. rig count fell by 2 to a total of 756, ending a trend that has seen the number of U.S. rigs increase since for six-straight months.
The weekly rig count is an important barometer for the drilling industry and serves as a proxy for oil production and oil services demand.
The surprise dip in the number of active U.S. drilling rigs comes amid a rebound oil prices, as investors seemed to take advantage of the recent slump in oil prices into bear market territory.
Some commentators remained adamant, however, that the recent bounce in oil prices would be temporary, as Opec and its allies’ continue to struggle to tackle the underlying problem of oversupply in the industry, which has pressured prices for nearly three years. The editor and publisher of The Gartman Letter said in an interview with CNBC:
“There’s a real problem out there in the crude oil market. You’re going to get a rally and the market is rallying today. It’s been rallying for the past 4 or 5 days. It is nothing but a dead cat bounce.”
In May, Opec and non-Opec members agreed to extend production cuts for a period of nine months until March, but stuck to production cuts of 1.8 million bpd agreed in November last year.
Natural Gas (Thursday Report)
U.S. natural gas futures rose to a fresh four-week high on Thursday, extending gains into a fifth session after data showed that domestic supplies in storage rose less than anticipated last week.
U.S. natural gas for August delivery was at $3.117 per million British thermal units by 10:33AM ET (1433GMT), up 2.4 cents, or around 0.8%. Futures were at around $3.075 prior to the release of the supply data.
Natural gas edged higher on Tuesday to notch its fourth wining session in a row on Wednesday.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. rose by 46 billion cubic feet in the week ended June 23, below forecasts for a build of 52 billion.
That compared with a gain of 61 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, an increase of 37 billion a year earlier and a five-year average rise of 72 billion cubic feet.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 2.816 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 10.2% lower than levels at this time a year ago but 6.4% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Meanwhile, updated weather forecasting models continued to point to increased summer demand in the weeks ahead.
Natural gas prices have closely tracked weather forecasts in recent weeks, as traders try to gauge the impact of shifting outlooks on summer heating demand.
Gas use typically hits a seasonal low with spring’s mild temperatures, before warmer weather increases demand for gas-fired electricity generation to power air conditioning.
Nearly 50% of all U.S. households use gas for heating.
Traders also watched for any disruptions to energy production in the Gulf of Mexico from tropical storm Cindy. The storm prompted the shut in of 17.2% of oil production and 0.3% of natural-gas output in the Gulf Wednesday, according to the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.