Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.07%
U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Technology, Consumer Services and Healthcare sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.07%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.13%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.64%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which rose 1.53% or 1.09 points to trade at 72.50 at the close. Meanwhile, Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) added 1.52% or 0.47 points to end at 31.47 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) was up 1.39% or 2.16 points to 157.48 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV), which fell 1.16% or 1.51 points to trade at 128.18 at the close. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) declined 0.96% or 0.76 points to end at 78.21 and JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) was down 0.84% or 0.77 points to 91.42.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were TripAdvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP) which rose 6.22% to 42.18, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:VRTX) which was up 3.53% to settle at 153.78 and Urban Outfitters Inc (NASDAQ:URBN) which gained 3.32% to close at 17.76.
The worst performers were NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) which was down 5.34% to 155.95 in late trade, Mylan Inc (NASDAQ:MYL) which lost 4.37% to settle at 30.88 and The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) which was down 2.46% to 11.10 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were DryShips Inc (NASDAQ:DRYS) which rose 51.22% to 3.10, Forterra Inc (NASDAQ:FRTA) which was up 32.19% to settle at 4.64 and Chiasma Inc (NASDAQ:CHMA) which gained 27.59% to close at 1.85.
The worst performers were root9B Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:RTNB) which was down 50.86% to 2.0100 in late trade, Black Box Corporation (NASDAQ:BBOX) which lost 45.64% to settle at 4.05 and EnteroMedics Inc (NASDAQ:ETRM) which was down 39.58% to 2.0000 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1668 to 1449 and 113 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1317 rose and 1188 declined, while 131 ended unchanged.
Shares in Mylan Inc (NASDAQ:MYL) fell to 3-years lows; down 4.37% or 1.41 to 30.88. Shares in Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) fell to 52-week lows; down 0.96% or 0.76 to 78.21. Shares in root9B Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:RTNB) fell to 52-week lows; down 50.86% or 2.0800 to 2.0100. Shares in Black Box Corporation (NASDAQ:BBOX) fell to all time lows; losing 45.64% or 3.40 to 4.05.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.55% to 15.47.
Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.46% or 5.87 to $1295.97 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 0.43% or 0.21 to hit $48.80 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 0.23% or 0.12 to trade at $52.02 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.44% to 1.1824, while USD/JPY fell 0.04% to 109.15.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.35% at 92.97.
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The dollar fell against a basket of global currencies on Friday, pressured by data showing the slowdown in inflation continued in July, weakening the Federal Reserve’s case for a third rate hike later this year.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.32% to 93.01.
The Labor Department said on Friday the Consumer Price Index (CPI) edged up 0.1% last month after being unchanged in June. That lifted the year-on-year increase in the CPI to 1.7% from 1.6% in June.
Economists had forecast the CPI rising 0.2% in July and climbing 1.8% year-on-year.
The downbeat consumer inflation report comes a day after wholesale inflation data undershot expectations, pointing to a continued slowdown in inflation, narrowing expectations the Federal Reserve may keep to its plan to hike rates at least once more this year.
The stuttering pace of inflation has been a key concern for the Federal Reserve, weighing on the central bank’s decision to tightened monetary policy further, after Fed members voted to keep rates unchanged in July.
Meanwhile, Dallas Fed President Rob Kaplan on Friday downplayed the prospect of a third rate hike, saying the Fed’s key interest rate is getting close to a “neutral” level so the Fed should patiently wait for further evidence that inflation will rise before tightening policy.
The euro and sterling were the main beneficiaries of the slump in the greenback, as the latter hit session highs.
GBP/USD rose 0.20% to $1.3004 while EUR/USD tacked on 0.34% to $1.1813.
USD/JPY fell 0.15% to Y109.04, as geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and North Korea remained, boosting demand for safe-haven yen.
USD/CAD lost 0.45% to C$1.2685.
Speculators More Bearish on Euro, Canadian Dollar; Less Bearish on Japanese Yen
Note: This data is for the week ending on Friday 08 August so the current week of trading is not reflected.
Gold prices continued to climb on Friday, as geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and North Korea kept safe-haven demand elevated while data showing July inflation undershot expectations, lessened the prospect of a rate hike this year.
Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $3.40, or 0.26%, to $1,293.37 a troy ounce.
U.S. President Donald Trump issued a new threat to North Korea, saying American weapons were “locked and loaded” as Pyongyang accused him of driving the Korean Peninsula to the brink of nuclear war.
Trump’s latest salvo to threats from North Korea, stoked investor demand for safe-haven gold, lifting gold prices to its biggest weekly gain in four months.
Also underpinning a move higher in the precious metal, was data showing a continued slowdown in the pace of inflation as consumer prices rose less than expected in July.
The Labor Department said on Friday the Consumer Price Index (CPI) edged up 0.1% last month after being unchanged in June. That lifted the year-on-year increase in the CPI to 1.7% from 1.6% in June.
Economists had forecast the CPI rising 0.2% in July and climbing 1.8% year-on-year.
The downbeat inflation data added to growing expectations the Federal Reserve may abandon its plan to hike rates later this year, after the central bank left its benchmark rate unchanged in June, citing concerns over the stuttering pace of inflation.
Gold is sensitive to moves in U.S. rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion.
In other precious metal trade, silver futures rose 1.01% to $17.034 while platinum futuresrose by 0.36% to $990.15.
Copper traded at $2.912, down 0.25%, while natural gas tacked on 0.23% to $2.991.
Crude futures settled higher on Friday, but posted a weekly loss as investor sentiment soured on oil prices this week, following data showing Opec output increased in July as its members failed to adhere to output limits set out in the global deal to curb production.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for September delivery rose 23 cents to settle at $48.82 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent added $0.10 to trade at $52 a barrel.
The International Energy Agency said OPEC’s compliance with the cuts in July had fallen to 75%, the lowest since the cuts began in January. That despite the group’s pledge to increase compliance levels.
In May, Opec producers agreed to extend production cuts for a period of nine months until March, but stuck to production cuts of 1.2 million bpd agreed in November last year.
The bearish compliance data comes a day after Opec released its monthly report, showing production from the group rose further in July, as exempt producers – Nigeria and Libya – and top exporter Saudi Arabia increased output.
Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih on Friday attempted, however, to quell investor fears that the excess supplies would continue to weigh on prices, saying the kingdom did not rule out the possibility of additional production cuts.
Meanwhile, oilfield services firm Baker Hughes reported Friday, its weekly count of oil rigs operating in the United States last week ticked up by three rigs to a total of 768.
The weekly rig count is an important barometer for the drilling industry and serves as a proxy for oil production and oil services demand.
Natural Gas (Thursday Report)
U.S. natural gas futures rose on Thursday, hitting the highest levels of the session after data showed that domestic supplies in storage increased less than expected last week.
U.S. natural gas for September delivery was at $2.963 per million British thermal units by 10:50AM ET (1450GMT), up 8.0 cents, or around 2.8%. It touched its highest since July 28 at $2.967 earlier. Futures were at around $2.896 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. rose by 28 billion cubic feet in the week ended August 4, below forecasts for a build of 38 billion.
That compared with a gain of 20 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, a build of 29 billion a year earlier and a five-year average rise of 54 billion cubic feet.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 3.038 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 8.3% lower than levels at this time a year ago but 2% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Futures ended higher on Wednesday, notching their third-straight session of gains, as near-term weather forecasts turned hotter.
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.