Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.43%
U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Utilities, Technology and Industrials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.43%, while the S&P 500 index lost 0.26%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.15%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which rose 3.42% or 1.96 points to trade at 59.19 at the close. Meanwhile,Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) added 1.45% or 0.65 points to end at 45.42 andHome Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) was up 0.14% or 0.24 points to 167.74 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which fell 2.23% or 1.02 points to trade at 44.63 at the close. Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) declined 2.16% or 2.15 points to end at 97.47 and Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was down 1.80% or 0.84 points to 45.71.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Foot Locker Inc (NYSE:FL) which rose 28.16% to 40.82, Viacom B Inc (NASDAQ:VIAB) which was up 10.38% to settle at 26.15 and Ross Stores Inc (NASDAQ:ROST) which gained 9.99% to close at 72.25.
The worst performers were Cummins Inc (NYSE:CMI) which was down 4.62% to 159.41 in late trade, PACCAR Inc (NASDAQ:PCAR) which lost 4.32% to settle at 66.69 and Scana Corporation (NYSE:SCG) which was down 3.44% to 43.45 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Micronet Enertec Technologies Inc(NASDAQ:MICT) which rose 59.71% to 1.230, Eastside Distilling Inc (NASDAQ:ESDI) which was up 30.80% to settle at 5.69 and Shoe Carnival Inc (NASDAQ:SCVL) which gained 29.67% to close at 26.75.
The worst performers were Real Industry Inc (NASDAQ:RELY) which was down 40.37% to 0.36 in late trade, OptimumBank Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:OPHC) which lost 39.64% to settle at 4.980 and SenesTech Inc (NASDAQ:SNES) which was down 36.68% to 0.86 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2007 to 1085 and 126 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1547 rose and 987 declined, while 123 ended unchanged.
Shares in Ross Stores Inc (NASDAQ:ROST) rose to all time highs; rising 9.99% or 6.56 to 72.25. Shares in Real Industry Inc (NASDAQ:RELY) fell to all time lows; down 40.37% or 0.24 to 0.36. Shares in SenesTech Inc (NASDAQ:SNES) fell to all time lows; falling 36.68% or 0.50 to 0.86.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.06% to 11.40.
Gold Futures for December delivery was up 1.23% or 15.77 to $1293.97 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 2.68% or 1.48 to hit $56.62 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 2.23% or 1.37 to trade at $62.73 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.20% to 1.1793, while USD/JPY fell 0.80% to 112.15.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.27% at 93.59.
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Read more news from Reuters at Investing.com: Wall Street pulls back at week’s end with tax changes mulled.
The dollar fell against a basket of major currencies on Friday as better-than-expected housing data failed offset renewed political uncertainty in Washington amid reports that Special Counsel Robert Mueller was set to issue fresh subpoenas for the Trump campaign.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.27% to 93.59.
The greenback struggled to pare losses despite data showing October housing starts rose to their highest since Oct 2016, pointing to underlying strength in the US economy.
Housing starts surged 13.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.29 million units, the Commerce Department said on Friday.
The housing sector has showed a strong recovery in the South after disruptions from hurricanes Harvey and Irma. A rebound in the South, however, was not the main reason for the upbeat housing data as analysts noted that non-hurricane hit areas such as the Northeast and Midwest showed strong housing sector growth for the month.
The upbeat housing data failed to offset negative sentiment on the greenback which followed reports that Special Counsel Robert Mueller was set to issue fresh subpoenas for the Trump campaign, probing possible Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.
Losses in the greenback, however, were limited as the Canadian dollar came under pressure following data showing domestic inflation remained subdued in October, reducing expectations of further monetary policy action from the Bank of Canada.
The euro, meanwhile, traded higher against the greenback shrugging off dovish comments from European Central president Mario Draghi.
“We are not yet at a point where the recovery of inflation can be self-sustained without our accommodative policy.” Draghi said.
GBP/USD continued its recovery from a slump earlier this week, rising 0.07% to $1.3204.
USD/JPY fell 0.87% to Y112.08 as yen added to gains despite fading risk-off sentiment in Asia overnight.
This week Crude oil net longs reached an all-time high, while Japanese yen net shorts were at 4-year high.
Note: This data is for the week ending on Tuesday 14 November so the last three days of trading is not reflected.
Gold prices rose sharply on Friday amid an uptick in geopolitical uncertainty after North Korea ruled out negotiations with Washington on curbing its nuclear weapons programme.
Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $14.77, or 1.15%, to $1292.88 a troy ounce.
North Korea’s US ambassador Han Tae Song said:
“As long as there is continuous hostile policy against my country [North Korea] by the U.S. and as long as there are continued war games at our doorstep, then there will not be negotiations.”
That fuelled geopolitical uncertainty, raising demand for safe-haven gold as market participants feared that North Korea could retaliate should Washington respond with new sanctions on the isolated nation.
In the U.S., political uncertainty weighed on treasury yields and the dollar, underpinning a move higher in gold prices after reports surfaced that Special Counsel Robert Mueller was set to issue fresh subpoenas for the Trump campaign as part of investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.
Gold is sensitive to moves lower in both bond yields and the U.S. dollar – A weaker dollar makes gold cheaper for holders of foreign currency while a drop in U.S. rates, reduces the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion.
In other precious metal trade, silver futures rose 0.63% to $17.18 a troy ounce, while platinum futures gained 1.90% to $953.95.
Copper traded at $3.07, up 0.62% while natural gas rose by 2.29% to $3.12. The rebound in natural gas comes on the back of slump in the previous session despite data showing domestic supplies in storage fell for the first time this season.
Crude oil prices settled higher on Friday but failed to offset a weekly loss as investors weighed rising US output amid a fall in expectations that OPEC will extend its deal to curb output.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for December delivery rose by 2.6% to settle at $56.55 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent rose 2.15% cents to trade at $62.68 a barrel.
Despite rising sharply on Friday, crude oil futures failed to pare losses earlier week amid ongoing investor fears that rising U.S. output would dampen OPEC’s efforts to rid the market of excess supplies.
Preliminary U.S. production figures this week, showed weekly output rose by 25,000 to an all-time high of 9.65 million barrels per day, while crude oil stockpiles rose for second week in a row.
The International Energy Agency said on Thursday that the U.S. would account for 80% of the global increase in oil production over the next decade.
Also adding to fears of an increase in global crude supplies was a report on Thursday indicating Iraq and Turkey were considering resuming Kirkuk oil export from the Ceyhan pipeline. The Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline exports about 600,000 barrels of oil, but current crude flows are flowing at a rate below 100,000 barrels, following political unrest in the region.
In the U.S.,meanwhile, Baker Hughes released its count of oil rigs operating in the US remained unchanged from a week ago at 738.
The uptick in oil prices is expected to remain limited amid fears that OPEC may opt against extending its production-cut agreement beyond March as concerns grew that Russia was reluctant to support an extension of the deal at the upcoming OPEC 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.
Natural Gas (Thursday report)
U.S. natural gas futures reversed gains on Thursday to trade lower despite data showing that domestic supplies in storage fell for the first time this season.
U.S. natural gas futures shed around 0.3 cents, or about 0.1%, to $3.080 per million British thermal units by 10:55AM ET (1555GMT). Futures were at around $3.091 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. fell by 18 billion cubic feet (bcf) in the week ended Nov. 10, compared to forecasts for a withdrawal of 14 billion. It was the first weekly decline since March.
That compared with a gain of 15 bcf in the preceding week, a build of 30 bcf a year earlier and a five-year average rise of 12 bcf.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 3.772 trillion cubic feet (tcf), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That figure is 271 bcf, or around 6.7%, lower than levels at this time a year ago and 101 bcf, or roughly 2.6%, 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 ended lower for the third day in a row on Wednesday amid forecasts for less heating demand through the end of this month.
Gas futures often reach a seasonal low in late October and early November, 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.
