Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.82%
U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Consumer Goods, Technology and Consumer Services sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.82%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.85%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 1.27%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average wereGeneral Electric Company (NYSE:GE), which rose 3.93% or 0.55 points to trade at 14.54 at the close. Meanwhile, Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) added 0.55% or 0.36 points to end at 66.09 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was up 0.32% or 0.19 points to 58.83 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which fell 4.10% or 7.08 points to trade at 165.72 at the close. International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) declined 1.90% or 2.80 points to end at 144.90 and American ExpressCompany (NYSE:AXP) was down 1.54% or 1.58 points to 100.79.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) which rose 4.08% to 18.89, Xerox Corp (NYSE:XRX) which was up 3.99% to settle at 31.54 and General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) which gained 3.93% to close at 14.54.
The worst performers were Stanley Black & Decker Inc (NYSE:SWK) which was down 6.70% to 144.21 in late trade, Church & Dwight Company Inc (NYSE:CHD) which lost 5.91% to settle at 45.84 and Nielsen Holdings (NYSE:NLSN) which was down 4.78% to 33.04 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Valeritas Holdings Inc(NASDAQ:VLRX) which rose 76.27% to 3.12, Limelight Networks Inc (NASDAQ:LLNW) which was up 21.71% to settle at 4.990 and iPass Inc(NASDAQ:IPAS) which gained 18.69% to close at 0.4000.
The worst performers were Inpixon (NASDAQ:INPX) which was down 35.25% to 0.3950 in late trade, Cherokee Inc (NASDAQ:CHKE) which lost 35.24% to settle at 0.94 and Cambium Learning Group Inc (NASDAQ:ABCD) which was down 24.12% to 10.305 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2055 to 987 and 137 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1514 fell and 1001 advanced, while 155 ended unchanged.
Shares in Inpixon (NASDAQ:INPX) fell to 5-year lows; falling 35.25% or 0.2150 to 0.3950. Shares in Cherokee Inc (NASDAQ:CHKE) fell to 5-year lows; losing 35.24% or 0.51 to 0.94.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 5.58% to 16.85.
Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.77% or 10.40 to $1338.40 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 0.01% or 0.01 to hit $68.28 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 0.04% or 0.03 to trade at $73.81 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.47% to 1.2288, while USD/JPY rose 0.22% to 107.60.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.47% at 90.06.
See also:
Canada stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/TSX Composite up 0.44%
Mexico stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/BMV IPC down 0.64%
The dollar surged on Friday, driven higher by a rising yield on U.S. Treasury notes.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was at a two-week high, rising 0.59% to 90.17 by 10:32 AM ET (14:32 GMT)
U.S. bond yields crept back up on Friday, with the United States 2-Year note climbing to its highest level since September 2008, at 2.449. The yield on the United States 10-Year Treasury note rose to 2.940.
Prices fall as bond yields rise. A spike in U.S. Treasury bond yields in February led to a steep decline in equity markets, as investors flocked to the dollar in anticipation that inflation could lead to an increase in interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
The dollar gained ground against the yen, with USD/JPY rising 0.40% to 107.79.
The pound was lower amid dovish comments from Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, as investors grow uncertain of a rate hike in May. GBP/USD fell 0.50% to 1.4017.
The euro was down, with EUR/USD falling 0.65% to 1.2266 as investors worry that the euro zone’s economy is rebounding and the European Central Bank could wait to tighten monetary policy.
The loonie was lower after disappointing inflation and retail data. USD/CAD rose 0.46% to 1.2729 after inflation rose by 2.3% in March. A separate report showed that retail sales rose by just 0.4% in February.
Elsewhere, the Australian dollar was lower, with AUD/USD down 0.92% to 0.7657 while NZD/USD decreased 0.87% to 0.7207.
This week speculators were more bullish on the euro, oil, and the pound sterling, while becoming less bullish on gold.
Note: The data is for the week ending on Tuesday 10 April so the last three days of trading are not reflected.
Gold prices remained on course to snap a two-week winning streak as safe-haven demand faded amid easing geopolitical concerns, while continued dollar strength added to downside momentum.
Gold futures for June delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $9.90, or 0.73%, to $1,338.90 a troy ounce.
Gold prices remained close to their session lows of $1,337.10 as the dollar continued to gather momentum boosted by slump in the Canadian dollar and sterling, while the ongoing rise in 10Y yields above 2.9% also supported sentiment.
Gold is sensitive to moves higher in both bond yields and the U.S. dollar – A stronger dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of foreign currency, while a rise in U.S. rates, lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion.
Falling safe-haven demand, which had supported a strong uptick in the gold prices last week continued to ebb as a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Japan Prime Minister concluded without a hitch.
Improving U.S.-North Korea relations also weighed on safe-haven demand after the
U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this week that he hoped a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would be successful.
In other precious metal trade, silver futures fell 0.46% to $17.16 a troy ounce, while platinum futures fell 0.94% to $931.30 an ounce.
Copper rose 0.13% to $3.14.
Crude oil prices settled at nearly three-and-a-half year highs as the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee confirmed OPEC and its allies compliance with the deal to curb production rose to its highest ever, further stoking expectations for market rebalancing later this year.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for May delivery rose 9 cents to settle at $68.38 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent rose 0.22% to trade at $73.94 a barrel.
Crude oil prices settled higher, shrugging off earlier weakness which followed a tweet from U.S. President Donald Trump, in which he suggested that OPEC was keeping oil prices artificially high, insisting that it would not be accepted.
A jump in the number of oil rigs operating in the U.S. to the highest level in three years, pointing to an expansion in U.S. output, meanwhile, had a subdued impact on oil prices in the wake of continued optimism on oil prices.
The combination of strong momentum in developed markets and accelerating emerging market growth will combine to keep oil demand growth above consensus expectations, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) said.
Goldman Sachs forecasts 2018 year-on-year oil demand growth at 1.85 million barrels per day, and Brent rising to $80 a barrel between the second and fourth quarter of the year.
Sentiment on oil prices were also boosted by confirmation of deeper OPEC-led production cuts after the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee confirmed that compliance is at its highest ever.
In November 2016, OPEC and other producers, including Russia agreed to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) to slash global inventories to the five year-average. The OPEC-led deal was renewed last year through 2018.
OPEC will meet in June to decide whether to extend the production-cut agreement despite expectations the glut in global supplies have shrunk to levels just above the oil cartel’s target.
The production-cut agreement deal led to a sharp fall in excess crude supplies, which stood at just 12 million barrels above the five-year average in March, Reuters reported Thursday, citing a source familiar with the matter.
Natural Gas (from FXEmpire)
Natural gas prices rebounded on Friday after dropping on Thursday. Prices recaptured resistance near a downward sloping trend line near the 10-day moving average at 2.71. Momentum is neutral as the MACD (moving average convergence divergence) histogram prints near the zero-index level with a flat trajectory which reflects consolidation.
Supply falls slightly
According to data from the EIA, the average total supply of natural gas fell by 1% compared with the previous report week. Dry natural gas production decreased by 1% compared with the previous report week, and average net imports from Canada decreased by 9% from last week.
Demand falls
Total U.S. consumption of natural gas fell by 9% compared with the previous report week, according to data from the EIA. In the residential and commercial sectors, consumption declined by 22% as warm temperatures in the South and West offset increases in heating demand in the Midwest and Northeast. Natural gas consumed for power generation climbed by 2% week over week. Industrial sector consumption decreased by 3% week over week. Natural gas exports to Mexico decreased 1%
