Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.29%
U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Telecoms, Financials and Industrials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.29% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.18%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.30%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Boeing Co(NYSE:BA), which rose 1.54% or 3.77 points to trade at 249.00 at the close. Meanwhile,Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) added 1.44% or 0.68 points to end at 47.86 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) was up 1.43% or 0.52 points to 37.00 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE), which fell 1.04% or 0.37 points to trade at 35.36 at the close. Visa Inc (NYSE:V) declined 0.74% or 0.78 points to end at 105.30 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) was down 0.72% or 1.63 points to 225.22.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) which rose 6.32% to 180.11, First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) which was up 4.17% to settle at 50.45 and Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) which gained 3.18% to close at 88.52.
The worst performers were Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) which was down 7.67% to 48.74 in late trade, Acuity Brands Inc (NYSE:AYI) which lost 4.21% to settle at 170.50 and Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) which was down 4.07% to 65.94 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Mirati Ther (NASDAQ:MRTX) which rose 135.79% to 11.20, Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc (NASDAQ:HMNY) which was up 39.54% to settle at 3.670 and Xcel Brands Inc (NASDAQ:XELB) which gained 30.77% to close at 4.25.
The worst performers were Yangtze River Development Ltd (NASDAQ:YERR) which was down 28.77% to 16.34 in late trade, Trans World Entertainment Corp (NASDAQ:TWMC) which lost 26.79% to settle at 2.050 and FalconStor Software Inc (NASDAQ:FALC) which was down 26.60% to 0.410 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1911 to 1168 and 147 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1458 rose and 1063 declined, while 116 ended unchanged.
Shares in NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) rose to all time highs; gaining 6.32% or 10.71 to 180.11. Shares in First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) rose to 52-week highs; rising 4.17% or 2.02 to 50.45. Shares in Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) rose to all time highs; gaining 1.54% or 3.77 to 249.00. Shares in Mirati Ther (NASDAQ:MRTX) rose to 52-week highs; up 135.79% or 6.45 to 11.20.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 2.11% to 10.22.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.27% or 3.55 to $1325.75 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 0.02% or 0.01 to hit $49.88 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 0.09% or 0.05 to trade at $55.52 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.25% to 1.1949, while USD/JPY rose 0.54% to 110.87.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.25% at 91.81.
See also:
- Dow Has Best Week since December as Risk-on Trade Continues
Weekly ETF Gainers / Losers (Seeking Alpha)
Canada stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/TSX Composite up 0.02%
- Mexico stocks lower at close of trade; IPC down 0.37%
Read more news from Reuters at Investing.com: Fed meeting could trigger stock sector rotation.
The dollar fell against a basket of major currencies on Friday, after retail sales data unexpectedly undershot expectations in August while sterling rose to its highest since June last year adding to downside momentum in the greenback.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.25% to 91.80.
A sluggish month for motor vehicle sales weighed on retail sales growth in August, suggesting that consumer spending in the third-quarter may come under pressure, tapering investor expectation of strong third-quarter economic growth.
The Commerce Department said on Friday retail sales dipped 0.2% last month, missing expectations of a 0.1% rise.
The soft retail sales data came just hours ahead of manufacturing and consumer sentiment that topped forecasts.
The New York Empire State Manufacturing Survey declined to 24.4 for September from 25.2 previously, although this was significantly above consensus expectations of 19.0.
After hitting seven month highs in August, the consumer sentiment index, a survey of consumers by The University of Michigan, fell to 95.3 in September but handily topped expectations.
Sterling, meanwhile, added to gains from the previous session, hitting its highest level since the Brexit vote, piling further pressure on the greenback after Bank of England committee member Gertjan Vlieghe, said the “moment is approaching” for a rate increase.
GBP/USD rose to $1.3571, up 1.29% while USD/CAD gained 0.36% to C$1.2209.
EUR/USD added 0.13% to $1.1935 while EUR/GBP slumped 1.12% to £0.8796.
USD/JPY rose 0.54% to Y110.85, as safe-haven demand eased following an earlier spike in geopolitical uncertainty after North Korea launch a missile over Japan on Friday.
Gold net longs are at a 1-year high. Bearishness has decreased for pound and yen. Bullishness increased for the S&P 500.
Note: This data is for the week ending on Tuesday12 September so the last three days of trading is not reflected.
Gold prices fell as investors shrugged off a rise in geopolitical uncertainty that followed after North Korea launched a missile over Japan on Friday while growing expectations that the Federal Reserve will hike rates later this year kept the precious metal on track for a weekly loss.
Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $2.91, or 0.22%, to $1,326.39 a troy ounce.
A day after data showing inflation rose to its highest in seven months fuelling expectations of a December rate hike, gold prices remained on track to snap three-week winning streak. Losses, however, were limited by weak U.S. economic data.
The Commerce Department said on Friday retail sales dipped 0.2% last month, missing expectations of a 0.1% rise. A duo of reports on manufacturing and consumer sentiment followed the weaker-than-expected retail sales data.
The New York Empire State Manufacturing Survey declined to 24.4 for September from 25.2 previously, although this was significantly above consensus expectations of 19.0.
The consumer sentiment index, a survey of consumers by The University of Michigan, fell to 95.3 in September but handily topped expectations.
According to investing.com’s fed rate monitor tool, more than 50% of traders expect the Fed to hike rates in December.
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 fell 0.19% to $17.70 a troy ounce while platinum futures lost 0.87% to $972.40.
Copper traded at $2.95, down 0.22%, while natural gas fell by 1.66% to $3.02.
Oil prices settled higher racking up their biggest weekly gain since July on Friday amid rising expectations that higher oil demand will reduce excess crude supplies to Opec’s five-year average target.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for October delivery rose $0.00 to settle at $49.89 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent gained 0.23% to trade at $55.60 a barrel.
Opec said production in August fell by 79,000 barrels a day (bpd) to 32.76 million as falling production from Venezuela, Iraq, the UAE and Saudi Arabia offset rising output from Nigeria.
“It is clear the rebalancing process is under way,” Opec’s secretary-general Mohammad Barkindo said, expressing optimism that growing demand in the second of the half of year would continue to dent excess supplies.
That was followed by the International Energy Agency report forecasting a surge in demand growth in 2017 by 100,000 barrels a day (bpd) to 1.6m bpd, or 1.7%. The bullish outlook on oil demand, lifted expectations that the demand and the supply imbalance in oil markets would continue to narrow in the coming months.
The duo of reports overshadowed data showing U.S. crude inventories rose more than expected last week, as the fallout from Hurricane Harvey, which tore through the U.S. oil heartland of Texas in August, forcing refineries to shutdown weighed on crude demand.
The post-Harvey refinery recovery is underway, however, as data earlier in the week from IHS Markit indicated that 13 of 20 affected U.S. refineries were restarting operations.
Crude output is expected to remain subdued as U.S. oil rigs continued to decline, pointing to a slowdown in production which could bolster crude prices.
Oilfield services firm Baker Hughes said its weekly count of oil rigs operating in the United States declined by 7 to 749.
The weekly rig count is an important barometer for the drilling industry and serves as a proxy for oil production and oil services demand.
Robbie Fraser, commodity analyst at Schneider Electric (PA:SCHN), ​said in a note:
“On the U.S. side, steadily declining rig counts of late have raised the possibility of stalled U.S. production gains, with current output still holding below pre-Harvey levels.”
Natural Gas (Thursday Report)
U.S. natural gas futures initially turned around and registered gains in North American trade on Thursday, despite data showed that natural gas supplies in storage in the U.S. rose more than expected last week.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. rose by 91 billion cubic feet in the week ended September 8, while analysts had forecast a smaller increase of just 85 billion.
Natural gas for delivery in October on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 1.5 cents, or 0.49%, to trade at $3.079 per million British thermal units by 10:32AM ET (14:32GMT).
Futures had been falling 0.13%, or 0.4 cents at around $3.054 prior to the release of the supply data.
That compared with a build of 65 billion cubic feet (bcf) in the preceding week and represented a decline of 179 billion from a year earlier but was 43 bcf above the five-year average.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.311 trillion cubic feet, 5.1% lower than levels at this time a year ago and 1.3% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Natural gas prices have gained more than 5% so far this week after Hurricane Irma struck the U.S. southeast with less force than once feared, easing worries over a hit to energy demand.
Despite recent gains, prices look set to remain on the back foot in the weeks ahead as traders react to the reality that higher summer demand for the commodity is coming to an end.
Demand for natural gas tends to rise in the summer months as warmer temperatures increase the need for gas-fired electricity to power air conditioning.
But with autumn due to start on September 22, power burns to feed air conditioning demand have probably peaked for now, market analysts said.