Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.15%
U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Oil & Gas, Technology and Industrials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.15%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.04%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.04%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Visa Inc(NYSE:V), which rose 1.52% or 1.49 points to trade at 99.60 at the close. Meanwhile, NikeInc (NYSE:NKE) added 1.44% or 0.85 points to end at 59.95 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was up 0.88% or 1.86 points to 212.14 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), which fell 2.92% or 0.78 points to trade at 25.91 at the close. Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) declined 1.32% or 1.38 points to end at 103.25 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) was down 0.95% or 2.12 points to 220.18.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) which rose 9.19% to 138.43, Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) which was up 8.55% to settle at 87.94 and E-TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ETFC) which gained 5.13% to close at 41.63.
The worst performers were Helmerich & Payne Inc (NYSE:HP) which was down 5.47% to 54.13 in late trade, Intuitive Surgical Inc (NASDAQ:ISRG) which lost 4.55% to settle at 927.47 and Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) which was down 4.35% to 12.97 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were TearLab Corp (NASDAQ:TEAR) which rose 89.77% to 3.3400, Top Ships Inc (NASDAQ:TOPS) which was up 25.00% to settle at 0.2600 and ESSA Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:EPIX) which gained 26.22% to close at 0.310.
The worst performers were DryShips Inc (NASDAQ:DRYS) which was down 27.91% to 2.17 in late trade, Pernix Therapeutics Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PTX) which lost 23.61% to settle at 3.430 and Omega Flex Inc (NASDAQ:OFLX) which was down 15.23% to 58.11 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1654 to 1444 and 144 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1442 fell and 1023 advanced, while 162 ended unchanged.
Shares in Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) rose to all time highs; rising 9.19% or 11.65 to 138.43. Shares in E-TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ETFC) rose to 5-year highs; up 5.13% or 2.03 to 41.63. Shares in Visa Inc (NYSE:V) rose to all time highs; rising 1.52% or 1.49 to 99.60. Shares in General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) fell to 52-week lows; losing 2.92% or 0.78 to 25.91. Shares in Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) rose to all time highs; gaining 0.88% or 1.86 to 212.14.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 2.51% to 9.34.
Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.68% or 8.41 to $1253.91 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September fell 2.56% or 1.20 to hit $45.72 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 2.66% or 1.31 to trade at $47.99 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.26% to 1.1662, while USD/JPY fell 0.70% to 111.13.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.32% at 93.78.
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The dollar dipped to a more than thirteenth-month low against a basket of global currencies on Friday, amid renewed political uncertainty in Washington after reports surfaced that special counsel Robert Mueller is looking into the business dealing of President Trump, Jared Kushner and other associates.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.30% to 93.79.
Several news agencies reported that U.S. president Donald Trump’s private business is set to come under scrutiny as special counsel Robert Mueller will expand investigations into allegations that Russia influenced the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
The political uncertainty in Washington has added to recent dollar woes, as a recent raft of timid economic data reduced investor expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike later this year.
Meanwhile, the euro continued to add to yesterday’s gains rising 0.29% to $1.1666 against the greenback, as traders continue to dismiss ECB president Mario Draghi’s attempt to add a dovish slant on expectations that the ECB will start to discuss tapering its bond-buying programme in September.
Draghi told a press conference Thursday.:
“We were unanimous in setting no precise date for when to discuss changes in the future. We simply said that our discussions should take place in the autumn.”
GBP/USD reversed some of its losses gaining 0.06% to $1.2982, after the Office of National Statistics (ONS) released a report which showed a widening deficit and that borrowing is £1.9bn higher than last year for the financial year to date.
USD/CAD traded at $1.2544, down 0.33%, following a bounce in the loonie after data showed the pace of inflation held steady in June.
USD/JPY fell to Y111.06, down 0.76%, despite the Bank of Japan’s decision to maintain its current loose monetary policy measures, and scale back its expectations concerning the pace of inflation.
Euro net longs are at a 6-year high; Japanese yen shorts at 13-month high; bullishness increased for oil while decreasing for gold and silver.
Note: This data is for the week ending on Friday 10 June so the last week of trading is not reflected.
Gold prices edged higher on Friday, buoyed by a second day of heavy selling in the dollar amid renewed political uncertainty in Washington on reports that special counsel Robert Mueller will expand his investigation to include President Trump’s private business dealings.
Gold futures for August delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by $8.46, or 0.68%, to $1,254.06 a troy ounce.
Several news agencies reported that U.S. President Donald Trump’s private business is set to come under scrutiny as special counsel Robert Mueller will expand investigations into allegations that Russia influenced the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
The political uncertainty in Washington pegged the greenback to its lowest level in more than a year against its rivals, boosting gold prices to session highs, as the precious metal seeks to notch its biggest weekly gain in two months.
Dollar-denominated assets such as gold are sensitive to moves in the dollar – A dip in the dollar makes gold cheaper for holders of foreign currency and thus, increases demand.
Gold’s recent stretch of gains comes on the back of an uptick in safe-haven demand, amid a batch of timid economic data suggesting that the Federal Reserve may struggle to keep to its plan to hike rates at least once more this year.
“Amid rising evidence of price and growth risks, [investors] are now being replaced by safe-haven buyers,” Peter Grant, chief market analyst with gold broker USAGOLD said.
The slump in the dollar underpinned moves higher in other precious metals, as silver futures rose 0.59% to $16.442 a troy ounce while platinum futures gained 0.50% to $937.90.
Copper traded at $2.724, up 0.29%, while natural gas, fell by 1.51% to $2.997.
Crude futures settled lower on Friday, as sentiment on oil soured after data indicating that Opec’s supply was set to rise compared to June reduced investor confidence in Opec’s ability to curb production.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for July delivery fell 2.5% to settle at $45.77 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent dropped 2.76% to trade at $47.94 a barrel.
Opec’s July oil supply was set to rise by 145,000 barrels per day (bpd) compared to June, Reuters reported citing data from PetroLogistics, a company that tracks Opec supply forecasts.
The increase in oil supply would push production above 33 million barrels per day, and further reduce Opec’s compliance rate – with the deal curb production – which fell to 78% to June.
Higher supply from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Nigeria would drive this month’s gains, according to PetroLogistics.
The bearish news came ahead of data showing a slowdown in U.S. drilling activity suggesting a possible tightening in U.S. production growth.
Oilfield services firm Baker Hughes reported its weekly count of oil rigs operating in the United States ticked down by one rig to a total of 764.
The slump in oil prices on Friday, erased earlier gains during the week, as crude futures posted a weekly loss ahead of the Opec meeting on July 24.
Opec is not expected to introduce additional measures to curb the recent growth in supply, as some members believe it’s too early to determine whether the current level of production cuts need to be deepened.
Kuwait’s oil minister Essam al-Marzouq said on Tuesday”
“We are in the first two weeks of the extension period. It is too early to say now what I will do in November.”
In May, Opec and non-Opec members agreed to extend production cuts of 1.8m bpd for a period of nine months until March but rising production from the U.S., Nigeria and Libya has undermined the cartel’s efforts to curb excess supply.
Natural Gas (Thursday Report)
U.S. natural gas futures rose to a fresh three-week high on Thursday, after data showed that domestic supplies in storage rose less than anticipated last week.
U.S. natural gas for August delivery rose to a session high of $3.110 per million British thermal units, its highest since June 29. It was last at $3.085 by 10:50AM ET (1450GMT), up 1.9 cents, or around 0.6%. Futures were at around $3.110 prior to the release of the supply data.
Prices finished lower for the first time in four sessions on Wednesday.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. rose by 28 billion cubic feet in the week ended July 14, below forecasts for a build of 32 billion.
That compared with a gain of 57 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, an increase of 34 billion a year earlier and a five-year average rise of 59 billion cubic feet.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 2.973 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 9.1% lower than levels at this time a year ago but 4.6% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Meanwhile, updated weather forecasting models pointed to increased summer demand in the coming weeks.
Hot high pressure over the western, central, and southern U.S. will strengthen and expand as the week progresses, eventually dominating almost the entire country besides the far northern U.S. with highs of upper 80s to 100s for strong national demand.
Longer-term models showed the western, central and southern U.S. will be hot with highs of upper 80s to 100s through August 1, due to strong high pressure.
Natural gas prices have closely tracked weather forecasts in recent weeks, as traders try to gauge the impact of shifting outlooks on summer cooling demand.
Nearly 50% of all U.S. households use gas for cooling.
