Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks mixed at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.17%
U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Friday, as gains in the Consumer Goods, Consumer Services and Telecoms sectors led shares higher while losses in the Oil & Gas, Healthcare and Utilities sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.17%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.09%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.01%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), which rose 2.50% or 0.50 points to trade at 20.49 at the close. Meanwhile, Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) added 2.05% or 2.10 points to end at 104.78 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) was up 0.84% or 1.14 points to 136.48 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which fell 1.56% or 0.72 points to trade at 45.58 at the close. Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) declined 1.30% or 0.73 points to end at 55.48 and McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) was down 0.84% or 1.41 points to 165.59.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were News Corp B (NASDAQ:NWS) which rose 5.42% to 15.55, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) which was up 5.27% to settle at 216.14 and News Corp A (NASDAQ:NWSA) which gained 5.15% to close at 15.10.
The worst performers were Johnson Controls International PLC (NYSE:JCI) which was down 4.10% to 36.93 in late trade, Henry Schein Inc (NASDAQ:HSIC) which lost 3.75% to settle at 67.05 and Cardinal Health Inc (NYSE:CAH) which was down 3.32% to 58.55 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Cartesian I (NASDAQ:CRTN) which rose 96.30% to 0.510, China Recycling Energy Corp (NASDAQ:CREG) which was up 56.00% to settle at 5.8500 and Ekso Bionics Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:EKSO) which gained 45.71% to close at 1.53.
The worst performers were Real Industry Inc (NASDAQ:RELY) which was down 61.76% to 0.65 in late trade, Neovasc Inc (NASDAQ:NVCN) which lost 28.08% to settle at 1.050 and Yulong Eco-Materials Ltd (NASDAQ:YECO) which was down 26.44% to 3.060 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1750 to 1325 and 136 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1319 rose and 1206 declined, while 127 ended unchanged.
Shares in News Corp B (NASDAQ:NWS) rose to 52-week highs; up 5.42% or 0.80 to 15.55. Shares in NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) rose to all time highs; gaining 5.27% or 10.82 to 216.14. Shares in Henry Schein Inc (NASDAQ:HSIC) fell to 52-week lows; losing 3.75% or 2.61 to 67.05. Shares in News Corp A (NASDAQ:NWSA) rose to 52-week highs; up 5.15% or 0.74 to 15.10. Shares in Cardinal Health Inc (NYSE:CAH) fell to 3-years lows; losing 3.32% or 2.01 to 58.55. Shares in Real Industry Inc (NASDAQ:RELY) fell to all time lows; losing 61.76% or 1.05 to 0.65. Shares in China Recycling Energy Corp (NASDAQ:CREG) rose to 52-week highs; up 56.00% or 2.1000 to 5.8500.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 6.76% to 11.21.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.87% or 11.23 to $1276.27 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December fell 0.58% or 0.33 to hit $56.84 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 0.50% or 0.32 to trade at $63.61 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.21% to 1.1667, while USD/JPY rose 0.06% to 113.54.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.15% at 94.28.
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The dollar traded lower against a basket of currencies on Friday as consumer confidence data fell short of expectations while ongoing fears over delays to corporate tax cuts continued to weigh on sentiment.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.10% to 94.33.
The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index, showed consumer confidence in the economy cooled, as the index showed a preliminary reading for November of 97.8, missing expectations for reading of 100.7.
Meanwhile, fears of delays to corporate tax cuts until 2019 continued to weigh on the greenback after U.S. Senate Republicans unveiled a tax plan on Thursday that was significantly different from the House of Representatives’ version.
Senators said that they wanted to slash the corporate rate to 20% from 35%, but in 2019, which differs from the GOP plan to slash the corporate rate immediately.
The pound and euro were the main beneficiaries of a slump in the dollar, as both currency added to Thursday’s gains against the greenback.
GBP/USD rose 0.36% to $1.1319, while EUR/USD tacked on 0.14% to $1.1659. The rise in sterling comes after manufacturing and manufacturing growth topped expectations.
USD/CAD was flat at C$1.2687 while USD/JPY rose 0.04% to Y113.52.
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 fell sharply on Friday but remained on track to snap three to three-week losing streak amid dollar weakness.
Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $13.10, or 1.02%, to $1274.41 a troy ounce.
Gold prices fell 1% intraday as investors appeared to unwind their bullish positions on the precious metal despite ongoing dollar weakness amid fears of delay to corporate tax cuts.
U.S. Senate Republicans unveiled a tax plan on Thursday that was significantly different from the House of Representatives’ version, as the Senate’s plan proposed a cut to the corporate rate to 20% from 35% in 2019, which differs from the GOP plan to slash the corporate rate immediately.
President Trump’s tax-reform plan, which is widely viewed as inflationary – a boon for the U.S. dollar – was widely expected to be enacted before year-end.
Gold prices are sensitive to moves lower in the U.S. dollar – A lower dollar makes gold cheaper for holders of foreign currency, thus, increases demand.
The outlook for gold turned negative after data from the World Gold Council showed global demand for gold slipped 9% to 915 tonnes during the third quarter of 2017, compared to the same period a year ago.
In other precious metal trade, silver futures fell 0.54% to $16.88 a troy ounce, while platinum futures lost 1.06% to $930.65.
Copper traded at $3.08, down 0.32% while natural gas rose by 0.03% to $3.2.
Crude oil prices settled lower on Friday, as investors fretted over an uptick in U.S. production but losses were limited as expectations grew that Opec would extend its agreement on output curbs.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for December delivery fell 0.7% to settle at $56.74 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent lost 37 cents to trade at $63.56 a barrel.
Crude Oil futures fell to a weekly loss as investors weighed a report from Baker Hughes showing the number of oil rigs operating in the US rose to the highest in almost a month by 9 to 738.
The uptick in rig counts added to concerned over rising U.S. output after federal energy projections this week estimated U.S. production to rise to 9.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2017 and a record 10.0 million bpd in 2018.
Losses in oil prices were limited, however, as investor expectations for an extension to the Opec-led product-cut agreement remained elevated ahead of the upcoming meeting on Nov. 30.
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.
Oil prices are expected to remain volatile over the near-term amid ongoing unrest in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia warned its citizens on Thursday not to travel to Lebanon and urged the international community to impose fresh sanctions on Iran.
The escalating tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran come after Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman accused Iran of “direct military aggression” by supplying Houthi rebels in Yemen with missiles, one of which was fired towards the Riyadh on Saturday.
Natural Gas (Thursday report)
There is no natural gas report this week.