Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.11%
U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Healthcare, Consumer Services and Technology sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.11%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.05%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.08%.
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 CaterpillarInc (NYSE:CAT), which rose 0.72% or 1.11 points to trade at 155.75 at the close. Meanwhile, International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) added 0.66% or 1.00 points to end at 152.50 and DowDuPont Inc (NYSE:DWDP) was up 0.66% or 0.47 points to 72.11 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which fell 2.29% or 1.48 points to trade at 63.29 at the close. Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) declined 0.82% or 0.90 points to end at 108.67 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) was down 0.78% or 2.04 points to 258.97.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Scana Corporation (NYSE:SCG) which rose 4.33% to 39.01, Edison International (NYSE:EIX) which was up 3.03% to settle at 65.23 and NRG Energy Inc (NYSE:NRG) which gained 2.55% to close at 28.16.
The worst performers were Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) which was down 3.21% to 10.540 in late trade, Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) which lost 2.29% to settle at 63.29 and Southern Company (NYSE:SO) which was down 2.00% to 48.50 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Sigma Labs Inc (NASDAQ:SGLB) which rose 150.00% to 3.500, Ignyta Inc (NASDAQ:RXDX) which was up 72.67% to settle at 26.85 and Adomani Inc (NASDAQ:ADOM) which gained 55.27% to close at 3.68.
The worst performers were Agile Thrpe (NASDAQ:AGRX) which was down 47.06% to 2.52 in late trade, Net Element Inc (NASDAQ:NETE) which lost 22.35% to settle at 14.5600 and MER Telemanagement Solutions Ltd (NASDAQ:MTSL) which was down 17.75% to 2.2700 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1564 to 1506 and 140 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1440 fell and 1082 advanced, while 117 ended unchanged.
Shares in Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) rose to all time highs; up 0.72% or 1.11 to 155.75. Shares in Ignyta Inc (NASDAQ:RXDX) rose to all time highs; up 72.67% or 11.30 to 26.85.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 2.39% to 9.85.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.65% or 8.30 to $1278.90 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.05% or 0.03 to hit $58.33 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.22% or 0.14 to trade at $65.04 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.09% to 1.1864, while USD/JPY fell 0.05% to 113.28.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.04% at 92.88.
See also:
Wall Street slips heading into holiday From Reuters)
Canada stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/TSX Composite down 0.11%
Top Sector ETFs of 2017 (From Yahoo!)
Will Value and Growth Stocks Finally Be ‘Trading Places’ in 2018? (From Yahoo!)
The dollar rose slightly against other majors currencies on Friday, after the release of mixed U.S. economic reports.
Trading volumes were expected to remain thin on Friday ahead of the Christmas holiday.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported on Friday that personal spending rose more expected by 0.6% in November, while personal income missed forecasts by rising only 0.3%.
A separate report showed that U.S. durable goods orders gained 1.3% in November, confounding expectations for a 2.0% climb. Core durable goods orders, which exclude transportation items fell unexpectedly by 0.1%.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.16% at 92.99 by 11:35 AM ET (16:35 GMT).
The euro remained lower, with EUR/USD down 0.28% at 1.1842, while GBP/USD slipped 0.11% to 1.3371.
The euro came under pressure after a Catalan vote on Thursday resulted in a victory for separatists, sparking fresh concerns over political turmoil in Spain.
The yen was little changed, with USD/JPY at 113.34.
Elsewhere, the Australian dollar remained stronger, with AUD/USD unchanged at 0.7716, while NZD/USD edged down 0.03% to 0.7016.
Speculators have turned negative on the Australian dollar and significantly less bullish on the euro and the Mexican peso. Bullishness remains very high for oil.
Note: This data is for the week ending on Tuesday 19 December so the last three days of trading are not reflected.
Gold prices continued to hover near two-and-a-half week highs on Friday, despite a mild rebound in the greenback as trading volumes were expected remain subdued ahead of the Christmas holiday.
Comex gold futures were little changed at $1,271.30 a troy ounce by 03:00 a.m. ET (07:00 GMT), close to Thursday’s two-and-a-half week high of $1,272.50.
The greenback found some support after data on Thursday showed that the U.S. economy grew 3.2% in the third quarter, which was a downward revision from the previous reading of 3.3%. It was still the fastest pace in more than two years.
The report came a day after the House of Representatives gave final approval to the biggest U.S. tax overhaul in 30 years, marking President Donald Trump’s first political victory for .
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.14% at 92.97.
Gold is sensitive to moves in the dollar. A stronger dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of foreign currency.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver futures were down 0.09% d at $16.23 a troy ounce.
Crude oil prices moved lower on Friday, still weighed by concerns over rising U.S. output and as the Forties pipeline in the North Sea was set to re-open in January.
Trading volumes were thin on Friday as investors closed positions ahead of the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays.
The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude February contract was down 42 cents or about 0.72% at $57.95 a barrel by 08:10 a.m. ET (12:10 GMT).
Elsewhere, Brent oil for February delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London was down 40 cents or about 0.62% at $64.50 a barrel.
In addition to the ongoing outlook for rising supplies in the U.S., the expected return of the 450,000 barrels per day Forties pipeline system in the North Sea in January dampened demand for the commodity.
The pipeline was shut earlier this month due to a crack but its operator said on Thursday that it expected to complete repairs around Christmas and to gradually restart the system in early January.
Fears that rising U.S. output could dampen OPEC’s efforts to rid the market of excess supplies have been weighing on the commodity in recent months.
The producer group, along with some non-OPEC members led by Russia, agreed last week to extend current oil output cuts for a further nine months until the end of 2018.
The deal to cut oil output by 1.8 million barrels a day (bpd) was adopted last winter by OPEC, Russia and nine other global producers. The agreement was due to end in March 2018, having already been extended once.
Elsewhere, gasoline futures were down 0.26% at $1.741 a gallon, while natural gas futuresgained 1.12% to $2.627 per million British thermal units.
Natural Gas (No report this week)
