Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.10%
U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare, Technology and Consumer Services sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.10% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.31%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.74%.
Please share this article – Go to very top of page, right hand side for social media buttons.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which rose 2.61% or 4.39 points to trade at 172.50 at the close. Meanwhile, Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) added 1.25% or 0.69 points to end at 56.06 and Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) was up 1.07% or 0.59 points to 55.71 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which fell 1.61% or 0.76 points to trade at 46.34 at the close. DowDuPont Inc (NYSE:DWDP) declined 1.22% or 0.88 points to end at 71.16 and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) was down 1.15% or 1.77 points to 151.58.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) which rose 12.71% to 61.81, NRG Energy Inc (NYSE:NRG) which was up 6.35% to settle at 27.62 and Dentsply Sirona Inc (NASDAQ:XRAY) which gained 5.95% to close at 64.80.
The worst performers were CenturyLink Inc (NYSE:CTL) which was down 6.24% to 16.37 in late trade, Discovery Communications C Inc (NASDAQ:DISCK) which lost 5.35% to settle at 15.39 and American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) which was down 4.59% to 62.00 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Diana Containerships Inc (NASDAQ:DCIX) which rose 348.40% to 11.2100, Top Ships Inc (NASDAQ:TOPS) which was up 67.05% to settle at 0.7200 and EV Energy Partners LP (NASDAQ:EVEP) which gained 41.26% to close at 1.090.
The worst performers were GenMark Diagnostics Inc (NASDAQ:GNMK) which was down 41.32% to 4.26 in late trade, The KEYW Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:KEYW) which lost 33.29% to settle at 5.17 and ENGlobal Corporation (NASDAQ:ENG) which was down 25.62% to 0.9000 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1613 to 1441 and 163 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1293 fell and 1231 advanced, while 141 ended unchanged.
Shares in CenturyLink Inc (NYSE:CTL) fell to 5-year lows; falling 6.24% or 1.09 to 16.37. Shares in NRG Energy Inc (NYSE:NRG) rose to 52-week highs; up 6.35% or 1.65 to 27.62. Shares in Discovery Communications C Inc (NASDAQ:DISCK) fell to 5-year lows; falling 5.35% or 0.87 to 15.39. Shares in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose to all time highs; rising 2.61% or 4.39 to 172.50. Shares in GenMark Diagnostics Inc (NASDAQ:GNMK) fell to 5-year lows; losing 41.32% or 3.00 to 4.26. Shares in The KEYW Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:KEYW) fell to 52-week lows; losing 33.29% or 2.58 to 5.17. Shares in ENGlobal Corporation (NASDAQ:ENG) fell to 52-week lows; falling 25.62% or 0.3100 to 0.9000.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 8.36% to 9.10.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.54% or 6.94 to $1271.16 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 2.11% or 1.15 to hit $55.69 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 2.52% or 1.53 to trade at $62.15 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.40% to 1.1611, while USD/JPY fell 0.02% to 114.06.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.20% at 94.81.
See also:
Nasdaq, Dow, S&P 500 Close at Record Highs, Qualcomm Spikes 12%
Weekly ETF Gainers / Losers (Seeking Alpha)
Canada stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/TSX Composite up 0.03%
- Mexico stocks higher at close of trade; IPC up 0.41%
Read more news from Reuters at Investing.com: U.S. dollar enters center stage for earnings.
The dollar traded higher against a basket of major currencies as bullish services sector data offset an October jobs report that undershot expectations.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose by 0.23% to 94.84.
ISM nonmanufacturing data for October showed an uptick to 60.1, beating expectations of 58.5. This represents the highest reading for the service sector index since 2005.
The upbeat nonmanufacturing report raised investor outlook on the U.S. economy, spurring a rebound on the dollar, which had come under pressure following data showing the U.S. economy created fewer jobs than expected in October.
The U.S. economy added 261,000 jobs in October, the Department of Labor said Friday, that missed economists estimates for 310,000 new jobs.
The jobless rate remained steady at 4.2% while average hourly earnings was sluggish with growth roughly flat for the month.
Nonfarm payrolls data was a “perfectly decent report”, RBC Capital Markets’ Chief U.S. Economist, Tom Porcelli said, as hurricane-related disasters have weighed on the labor market over the past two months.
The rebound in the dollar weighed on the euro, as the single currency reversed Thursday’s gains.
EUR/USD fell 0.47% to $1.1603, while EUR/GBP fell 0.56% to £0.8877.
GBP/USD rose 0.10% to $1.3073. Sentiment on sterling remained negative amid expectations that the Bank of England would be reluctant to raise rates anytime soon following its decision to raise rate for the first time in a decade on Thursday.
USD/JPY rose 0.22% to Y114.32, while USD/CAD fell 0.29% to C$1.2772 as Canadian labor market data topped expectations.
This week crude oil net longs reached an 8-month high. Speculators were more bullish on the S&P 500; There was less bullishness on the euro, Canaduan dollar, and Australian dollar.
Note: This data is for the week ending on Tuesday 31 October so the last three days of trading is not reflected.
Gold prices came under pressure amid dollar strength as a weaker-than expected jobs report failed to derail investor expectations for a year-end rate while a surge in the services sector lifted sentiment on riskier assets.
Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $7.98, or 0.62%, to $1270.13 a troy ounce.
Gold prices remained on track to post a three-week losing streak amid ongoing risk-on sentiment as service sector growth offset data pointing to labor market weakness.
ISM nonmanufacturing data for October showed an uptick to 60.1, beating expectations of 58.5. That was the highest reading for the service sector index since 2005.
The upbeat nonmanufacturing report raised investor expectations of bullish U.S. economic growth, spurring a rebound on the dollar, which pressured gold prices to sink to session lows.
The U.S. economy added 261,000 jobs in October, the Department of Labor said Friday, that missed economists’ estimates for 310,000 new jobs.
The jobless rate remained steady at 4.2% while average hourly earnings was sluggish with growth roughly flat for the month.
Analysts noted, however, that while weaker wage growth could weigh on markets it is unlikely to derail the Fed’s plan to raise rates in December. Analysts at Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) said:
“Flat wages doesn’t concern us too much. We do think wage pressure could start to weigh on the markets next year in a tight labor market.”
Gold prices are sensitive to moves higher in interest rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion.
In other precious metal trade, silver futures fell 1.59% to $16.86 a troy ounce, while platinum futures fell 0.61% to $921.85.
Copper traded at $3.12, down 0.61% while natural gas rose by 1.98% to $2.99.
Crude oil prices settled higher on Friday following a late-session surge on the back of data showing signs of U.S. production tightening as US oil rig counts fell to a nearly six-month low.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for December delivery rose $1.10 cents to settle at $55.64 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brentadded $1.50 to trade at $62.12 a barrel.
Crude oil settled at two-year highs amid a spike in sentiment on oil prices after the number of oil rigs operating in the US fell by eight to 729, declining for the fourth week in five, according to data from energy services firm Baker Hughes.
That was the first time since May 26 that oil rig counts fell below 730, fueling expectations that market rebalancing is well underway as data earlier this week showed Opec members continued to cut output.
Saudi Arabia continued to cut oil output as inventories declined significantly in October, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said Thursday, describing compliance with the Opec-led accord to curb output as “excellent.”
Russian also adhered to the cuts stipulated in the output-cut agreement despite increasing output to 10.93 million bpd in October from 10.91 million bpd in September, official data showed Thursday.
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 rally in crude oil prices comes as investor optimism on an extension of the Opec-led agreement following recent comments from both Opec and non-opec officials ahead of the Opec meeting in Vienna on Nov. 30.
Natural Gas (Thursday report)
U.S. natural gas futures moved higher on Thursday, after data showed that domestic supplies in storage increased broadly in line with market expectations last week.
U.S. natural gas futures rose around 4.0 cents, or about 1.4%, to $2.937 per million British thermal units by 10:35AM ET (1435GMT). Futures were at around $2.926 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 65 billion cubic feet (bcf) in the week ended Oct. 27, compared to forecasts for a build of 62 billion.
That compared with a gain of 64 bcf in the preceding week, a build of 54 bcf a year earlier and a five-year average rise of 60 bcf.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 3.775 trillion cubic feet (tcf), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That figure is 180 bcf, or around 4.5%, lower than levels at this time a year ago and 41 bcf, or roughly 1.1%, below the five-year average for this time of year.
Analysts estimated the amount of gas in storage would end the April-October injection season at 3.8 tcf due primarily to higher liquefied natural gas shipments abroad. That would fall short of the year-earlier record of 4.0 tcf and the five-year average of 3.9 tcf.
Futures recovered from an early decline to end little changed on Wednesday as traders monitored near-term weather models to gauge demand for the heating fuel.
Gas futures often reach a seasonal low in October, when mild weather weakens demand, before recovering in the winter, when heating-fuel use peaks.
The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption.