Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.29%
U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Utilities and Industrials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.29%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.17%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.04%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT), which rose 1.90% or 1.66 points to trade at 89.17 at the close. Meanwhile, American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) added 1.29% or 1.22 points to end at 95.61 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) was up 1.22% or 1.89 points to 156.46 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which fell 0.72% or 0.48 points to trade at 65.91 at the close. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) declined 0.71% or 1.62 points to end at 227.86 and Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) was down 0.71% or 0.32 points to 45.01.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Ulta Beauty Inc (NASDAQ:ULTA) which rose 7.64% to 221.88, Brighthouse Financial Inc (NASDAQ:BHF) which was up 4.23% to settle at 54.73 and Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) which gained 4.13% to close at 106.45.
The worst performers were Tiffany & Co (NYSE:TIF) which was down 5.06% to 97.51 in late trade, Broadcom Ltd (NASDAQ:AVGO) which lost 4.81% to settle at 254.87 and Viacom B Inc (NASDAQ:VIAB) which was down 3.59% to 31.65 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Aemetis Inc (NASDAQ:AMTX) which rose 118.75% to 2.4500, Origin Agritech Limited (NASDAQ:SEED) which was up 27.00% to settle at 1.270 and Qualstar Corporation (NASDAQ:QBAK) which gained 24.95% to close at 11.4700.
The worst performers were Global Partner Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:PRPL) which was down 28.52% to 9.35 in late trade, Energy XXI Gulf Coast Inc (NASDAQ:EXXI) which lost 24.58% to settle at 4.0800 and FC Global Realty Inc (NASDAQ:FCRE) which was down 18.43% to 0.7423 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2042 to 1037 and 118 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1610 rose and 909 declined, while 137 ended unchanged.
Shares in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) rose to 3-years highs; up 4.13% or 4.22 to 106.45. Shares in Aemetis Inc (NASDAQ:AMTX) rose to 52-week highs; rising 118.75% or 1.3300 to 2.4500. Shares in Global Partner Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:PRPL) fell to all time lows; losing 28.52% or 3.73 to 9.35. Shares in Energy XXI Gulf Coast Inc (NASDAQ:EXXI) fell to 52-week lows; falling 24.58% or 1.3300 to 4.0800.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 5.24% to 15.72.
Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.32% or 4.20 to $1313.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 1.68% or 1.03 to hit $62.22 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 1.52% or 0.99 to trade at $66.11 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.16% to 1.2285, while USD/JPY fell 0.29% to 106.03.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.08% at 90.21.
See also:
Canada stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/TSX Composite up 0.25%
Weekly ETF Gainers / Losers (Seeking Alpha)
The dollar rose against a basket of major currencies as traders cheered mostly positive economic data and easing political turmoil in Washington.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.09% to 90.22.
President Donald Trump and his chief of staff, John Kelly, have reached a “truce” following talks Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. That eased investor fears of fresh political turmoil in the Trump administration following Trump’s termination of Rex Tillerson earlier this week. This comes a day after CBS News reported, citing sources, that Kelly suggested he may leave the White House.
The U.S. Labor Department’s latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTs) report, a measure of labor demand, showed job openings in July improved to about 6.31m, beating expectations of 5.89m.
Housing starts fell 7.0% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.236 million units, the Commerce Department said on Friday. Permits for future home building decreased 5.7% to a rate of 1.298 million units.
Analysts said the plunge in housing starts was disappointing but played down the significance of the drop in permits, highlighting that the strong showing for permits seen in January was unlikely to be sustained.
Pantheon said it was “not surprised by the drop in permits as the 19% January leap in the multi-family sector was never going to be sustained,” but conceded that plunge in starts was “disappointing.”
USD/JPY fell 0.22% to Y106.12 but bounced from a more than one week low of Y105.60 as easing turmoil in Washington dented appetite for safe-haven yen.
USD/CAD rose 0.25% to C$1.3929, while GBP/USD fell 0.16% to $1.2285
EUR/USD fell 0.15% to $1.2287 amid weaker inflation data.
This week speculators became more bullish on the euro, rising to near record net longs; less bullish on oil and gold.
Note: The data is for the week ending on Tuesday 13 March so the last three days of trading are not reflected.
Gold drifted lower as the dollar strengthen amid expectations that the Federal Reserve will hikes rates next week for the first time this year.
Gold futures for April delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $5.60, or 0.43%, to $1,312.20 a troy ounce.
Gold prices were set for a fourth-straight weekly slump as investors remained wary of buying the dips in the precious metal ahead of the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting which gets underway March 20.
According to Investing.com’s Fed rate monitor, traders see a 93% chance the Federal Reserve will hike rates by 0.25% to a range of 1.50% to 1.75% on March 21.
While many believe that the Federal Reserve March rate hike has been priced in, the central’s bank’s rate-hike projections or so-called dot-plots – illustrating where individual FOMC members believe rates are heading – are expected to be shifted upward, pointing to a faster pace of rate hikes.
In December, the Federal Reserve’s dot-plots indicated that the majority of FOMC members believed that three-rate hikes were appropriate for 2018.
Gold tends to come under pressure to moves higher in U.S. rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion.
Also adding to dollar weakness was falling safe-haven demand as investor fears that chief of staff, John Kelly, was set to resign eased amid a Wall Street Journal report suggested that President Donald Trump and John Kelly have struck a “truce“.
In other precious metal trade, silver futures fell 0.90% to $16.28 a troy ounce, while platinum futures lost 0.54% to $950.20 an ounce.
Copper fell 0.70% to $3.10, while natural gas was flat at $2.683.
WTI crude oil prices notched a second straight weekly win after settling nearly 2% higher on Friday despite data showing the number of U.S. oil rigs resumed their advance, pointing to a potential uptick in U.S. oil output.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for April delivery rose $1.16 to settle at $62.41 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent rose 1.01% to trade at $66.13 a barrel.
The number of oil rigs operating in the U.S. rose by four to 800, according to data from energy services firm Baker Hughes.
That failed, however, to weigh oil prices as investors continued to focus on geopolitical uncertainties that could disrupt global supplies, boosting oil prices. Tamar Essner, an analyst at Nasdaq Inc. in New York, told Bloomberg by telephone:
“You’ve got a lot going on, on the world stage. The more unexpected elements of this week’s developments were on the macro, international, geopolitical front. We are setting ourselves up for a little volatility ahead.”
The more than 2% surge on Friday, however, caught many by surprise, who were at loss to explain the exact reason for the surge. Some, however, speculated that the move higher was on speculation Saudi Arabia is threatening to acquire nuclear weapons to counter the perceived Iranian threat.
Media reports said a “60 Minutes” news segment with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman set to air Sunday, would show the Prince is in favor of obtaining nukes if Iran developed its own.
The strong end to the week for oil prices comes as traders mulled over several bearish reports this week from OPEC, the International Energy Agency and Energy Information Administration warning that U.S. production was set to ramp up in the coming months.
U.S. oil output hit a record last week rising to 10.38 million barrels per day, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Natural Gas (FX Empire)
Natural gas prices consolidated just above support levels, after dropping following Thursday’s smaller than expected decline in natural gas inventories. Support on natural gas is seen near an upward sloping trend line that comes in near 2.66. Resistance is seen near the 10-day moving average at 2.74. Positive momentum is decelerating as the MACD (moving average convergence divergence) histogram prints in the black with a declining trajectory which points to consolidation. The fast stochastic recently generated a crossover sell signal. The index has a negative trajectory which points to accelerating negative momentum and lower prices for natural gas. The relative strength index (RSI) moved sideways which reflects consolidation. The current reading of 44, is in the middle of the neutral range and also reflects consolidation.
Natural Gas Steal Market Share from Coal in Electrical Generations
According to the EIA, natural gas-fired generation gained market share in Texas, during the month of February. The share of generation from natural gas-fired power plants increased by 3.2% to almost 42% from January to February. This compares to a loss in coal fire generation which declined to 23% from 28% during the same period. The generation share from nuclear power plants increased by 1.1 percentage points while wind power plants increased by about 1.5 percentage points.
