Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.49%
U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Telecoms, Healthcare and Oil & Gas sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.49% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.55%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.40%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which rose 2.02% or 1.67 points to trade at 84.16 at the close. Meanwhile, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 1.71% or 3.76 points to end at 223.91 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was up 1.46% or 0.80 points to 55.57 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), which fell 1.03% or 0.47 points to trade at 45.31 at the close. 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) declined 0.90% or 2.17 points to end at 238.13 and DowDuPont Inc (NYSE:DWDP) was down 0.90% or 0.64 points to 70.73.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ALXN) which rose 7.19% to 114.46, Foot Locker Inc (NYSE:FL) which was up 4.04% to settle at 44.97 and CenturyLink Inc (NYSE:CTL) which gained 4.04% to close at 14.67.
The worst performers were Cooper Companies Inc (NYSE:COO) which was down 5.13% to 226.56 in late trade, Ball Corporation (NYSE:BLL) which lost 2.96% to settle at 39.60 and Twenty-First Century Fox Inc A (NASDAQ:FOXA) which was down 2.57% to 33.30 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Global Brokerage Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GLBR) which rose 55.56% to 1.12, Burcon Nutrascience Corp (NASDAQ:BUR) which was up 53.19% to settle at 0.720 and Pyxis Tankers Inc (NASDAQ:PXS) which gained 41.11% to close at 5.3200.
The worst performers were Erytech Pharma SA ADR (NASDAQ:ERYP) which was down 31.43% to 19.20 in late trade, Aqua Metals Inc (NASDAQ:AQMS) which lost 24.71% to settle at 1.98 and Liberty Tripadvisor Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:LTRPB) which was down 20.00% to 9.60 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1814 to 1253 and 149 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1323 rose and 1195 declined, while 137 ended unchanged.
Shares in Erytech Pharma SA ADR (NASDAQ:ERYP) fell to all time lows; down 31.43% or 8.80 to 19.20. Shares in Aqua Metals Inc (NASDAQ:AQMS) fell to all time lows; losing 24.71% or 0.65 to 1.98.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 5.81% to 9.57 a new 1-month low.
Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.24% or 3.00 to $1250.10 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 1.15% or 0.65 to hit $57.34 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 1.83% or 1.14 to trade at $63.34 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.05% to 1.1767, while USD/JPY rose 0.33% to 113.46.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.13% at 93.87.
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The dollar rose against a basket of major currencies on Friday after a mixed nonfarm jobs report showed the US economy created more jobs than expected but wage growth remained subdued.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.16% to 93.90.
The Labor Department said Friday, U.S. non-farm payrolls rose by 228,000 jobs in November, as the post-hurricane recovery in the labor market continued. That beat economists’ forecasts for 200,000 new jobs.
Wage growth, however, undershot expectations rising just 0.2% compared to expectations for a 0.3% increase, while wage growth in the previous month was revised downwards dropping to 0.1%
The subdued wage growth did little to derail expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike its meeting next week. That said, however, market participants warned that ongoing lucklustre wage growth could reduce expectations for a March rate hike.
“Today’s report won’t have any bearing on December, where markets widely expect a 0.25% hike, but if soft prints in wage and price inflation continue the impetus for a March rate hike is likely to fade,” TD securities said. “We expect the Fed to take the next step in rate normalization next week, followed by two more hikes in 2018.”
Also adding to dollar support was a slump in the pound following reports of a “breakthrough” in UK-EU brexit negotiations as the UK is believed to have agreed to pay up €50 billion to settle the so-called Brexit divorce bill. With the divorce bill out the way, the UK-EU negotiations on a trade deal are expected to get underway.
GBP/USD fell 0.59% to $1.3395.
The breakthrough in brexit talks trigger risk-on sentiment which weighed on safe-haven currencies such as the Swiss franc and yen, with the latter adding to overnight losses following upbeat Japan GDP data.
USD/CHF fell 0.07% to 0.9937, while USD/JPY rose 0.37% Y113.51.
EUR/USD fell 0.12% to $1.1759, while EUR/GBP rose 0.45% to £0.8776.
USD/CAD added 0.16% to $1.2874.
This week crude oil net longs reached still another all-time high. Bullishness increased on the euro and the S&P 500, while bullishness declined sharply for gold, silver, and copper.
Note: This data is for the week ending on Tuesday 07 December so the last three days of trading is not reflected.
Gold prices remained on track for a third-weekly slump as risk-on sentiment continued to support dollar strength, pressuring demand for the yellow metal.
Gold futures for February delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $4.00, or 0.34%, to $1249.00 a troy ounce.
Gold extended losses from Thursday as a mostly upbeat nonfarm payrolls and reports of a breakthrough in Brexit talks reduced safe-haven demand, pressuring gold to its largest weekly drop since May.
The Labor Department said Friday, U.S. non-farm payrolls rose by 228,000 jobs in November, as the post-hurricane recovery in the labor market continued. That beat economists’ forecasts for 200,000 new jobs.
Wage growth, however, undershot expectations rising just 0.2% compared to expectations for a 0.3% increase, while wage growth in the previous month was revised downwards dropping to 0.1%
Meanwhile, uncertainty over the progress of Brexit eased, following reports that the UK agreed to pay up €50 billion to settle the so-called Brexit divorce bill. The agreement of the divorce bill paves the way for the UK and EU to move to negotiation the terms of a crucial trade deal.
Gold prices have been in downtrend since September amid expectations the Federal Reserve will continue on its gradual path of monetary policy tightening. The central bank is widely expected to hike rates at its upcoming meeting on Dec. 12-13.
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 rose 0.08% to $15.82 a troy ounce, while platinum futures fell 1.27% to $883.15.
Copper traded at $2.98, up 0.42% while natural gas rose by 0.62% to $2.78.
Crude oil prices settled higher on Friday as stronger Chinese crude demand and fears over possible supply disruptions offset signs of rising US output.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for January delivery rose 1.2% to settle at $57.36 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent gained 1.6% to trade at $63.19 a barrel.
Crude futures started the session on the front foot buoyed by data showing China’s crude oil imports rose to 9.01 million barrels per day (bpd) raising expectations that solid global demand growth would continue to support rebalancing in markets.
That came ahead of the reports showing the number of oil rigs operating in the US rose for the third consecutive week, according to the oil field services company Baker Hughes.
This week’s U.S. rig count, an early indicator of future output, ticked up by two oil rigs to a total of 751, oilfield services firm Baker Hughes reported on Friday.
Signs of growing US output did little deter the current bullish sentiment on oil amid fears over supply disruption after One of Nigeria’s two main oil unions on Thursday threatened to launch a nationwide strike from Dec. 18.
Oil futures ended the week negative following a nearly 3% fall on Wednesday following the release of inventory data which pointed to possible demand weakness after gasoline inventories rose more than expected.
Morgan Stanley said, however, oil prices were entering a phase of “gradual recovery” as demand for petroleum based products continued to outpace its historical average growth ahead of the winter peak period.
Also supporting crude prices was ongoing investor expectations that OPEC compliance with the deal to curb output would remain firm, reducing oil supplies to OPEC’s five year-average.
Natural Gas (Thursday report)
Natural gas futures plunged on Thursday, falling to the lowest levels of the session after data showed a surprise buildup in U.S. supplies in storage last week.
U.S. natural gas futures sank 14.0 cents, or around 4.8%, to $2.781 per million British thermal units by 10:40AM ET (1540GMT), after hitting their lowest level since Aug. 7 at $2.768. Futures were at around $2.790 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 2 billion cubic feet (bcf) in the week ended Dec. 1, confounding forecasts for a withdrawal of 7 bcf.
That compared with a drop of 33 bcf in the preceding week, a fall of 42 bcf a year earlier and a five-year average decline of 69 bcf.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 3.695 trillion cubic feet (tcf), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That figure is 264 bcf, or around 6.6%, lower than levels at this time a year ago and 36 bcf, or roughly 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 notched a minor gain of 0.3% on Wednesday, as market players continued to monitor winter weather forecasts to gauge demand for the fuel.
Natural gas futures have closely tracked weather forecasts in recent weeks, as traders try to gauge the impact of shifting outlooks on early-winter heating demand.
Prices of the fuel typically rise ahead of the winter as colder weather sparks heating demand. The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption.
