Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.39%
U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Technology, Basic Materials and Consumer Goods sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.39%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 1.28%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 1.71%.
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 Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which rose 3.92% or 6.94 points to trade at 183.83 at the close. Meanwhile, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) added 3.09% or 4.95 points to end at 165.03 and Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) was up 2.42% or 2.39 points to 101.15 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX), which fell 0.38% or 0.48 points to trade at 125.53 at the close. Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) added 0.23% or 0.08 points to end at 34.84 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was up 0.38% or 0.22 points to 57.75.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS) which rose 9.09% to 53.17, IDEXX Laboratories Inc (NASDAQ:IDXX) which was up 8.39% to settle at 212.20 and Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ:SRCL) which gained 8.06% to close at 63.84.
The worst performers were Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR) which was down 22.43% to 45.76 in late trade, Mettler-Toledo International Inc (NYSE:MTD) which lost 3.80% to settle at 552.97 and CBOE Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CBOE) which was down 2.81% to 102.49 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Auris Medical Holding AG (NASDAQ:EARS) which rose 29.29% to 1.810, Biostar Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:BSPM) which was up 29.86% to settle at 2.8700 and Commercial Vehicle Group Inc (NASDAQ:CVGI) which gained 28.87% to close at 8.750.
The worst performers were Check Cap Ltd (NASDAQ:CHEK) which was down 48.35% to 4.550 in late trade, LiNiu Technology Group (NASDAQ:LINU) which lost 46.53% to settle at 0.770 and VivoPower International PLC (NASDAQ:VVPR) which was down 39.86% to 2.64 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2297 to 783 and 101 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1869 rose and 688 declined, while 111 ended unchanged.
Shares in IDEXX Laboratories Inc (NASDAQ:IDXX) rose to all time highs; up 8.39% or 16.42 to 212.20. Shares in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose to all time highs; up 3.92% or 6.94 to 183.83. Shares in LiNiu Technology Group (NASDAQ:LINU) fell to all time lows; losing 46.53% or 0.670 to 0.770.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 7.36% to 14.73 a new 1-month low.
Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.21% or 2.80 to $1315.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 1.93% or 1.32 to hit $69.75 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 1.77% or 1.30 to trade at $74.92 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.27% to 1.1957, while USD/JPY fell 0.09% to 109.09.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.17% at 92.44.
See also:
Canada stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/TSX Composite up 0.98%
Mexico stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/BMV IPC down 0.22%
The dollar retreated from 2018 highs amid weaker than expected U.S. labor market data but losses were limited as expectations for a Federal Reserve June rate hike remained intact.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose by 0.12% to 92.39 by midday and 92.44 by close of trade. The greenback rose to its highest level in 2018 after hitting an intraday of 92.75.
The U.S. economy created 164,000 in April, above the 135,000 jobs created in March, according to a report released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor. But that missed economists’ forecast for 189,000.
The jobless rate fell to 3.9%, beating economists’ forecasts for a 0.1% decline to 4%. Average hourly earnings grew 0.1% for April, below expectations for a 0.2% increase.
BNP Paribas said the softer nonfarm payrolls print would not have a “substantial” impact on the Federal Reserve monetary policy decisions as employment gains remained above its estimated breakeven.
The bank also said it expected wage growth would persist despite uncertainty as to why tightness in the labor market was not translating into wage growth. BNP Paribas:
“Deceleration in wage growth was surprising given such signs of labor market tightness. Why this tightness is not feeding into greater average hourly earnings growth remains a bit of a puzzle.”
Dollar strength was also underpinned by ongoing weakness in the both the pound and the euro as both pairs were set to post a third-straight weekly loss.
GBP/USD fell 0.22% to $1.1964, while EUR/USD fell 0.21% to $1.1963.
USD/JPY fell 0.19% to Y108.98, while USD/CAD fell 0.06% to C$1.2845.
Commitments of Traders (Report for week ending 24 April)
This week speculators were less bullish on the euro, oil, gold, and the pound sterling. Bullishness increased for silver and copper.
Note: The data is for the week ending on Tuesday 24 April so the last 8 days of trading are not reflected.
Gold prices continued to hover around breakeven on Friday after a weaker U.S. jobs report kept a lid on the dollar but did little to dampen the prospect of further Federal Reserve rate hikes.
Gold futures for June delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by $1.70 or 0.13%, to $1,314.50 a troy ounce.
The U.S. economy created 164,000 in April, missing economists’ forecast of 189,000, forcing traders to take some profit on the recent dollar rally, helping gold prices steady and move off session lows of $1,308.50.
That, however, was unlikely to avert a third-weekly loss for gold prices as the prospect of further U.S. rate hikes remained intact, supporting an extended rally in the dollar, limiting upside in the precious metal.
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 gold as it pays no interest.
The return of geopolitical uncertainty, meanwhile, added limited demand for safe-haven gold.
Geopolitical uncertainty emerged as traders awaited U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision on the Iran nuclear deal – due May 12 – amid growing expectations the U.S. will withdraw from the agreement.
U.S.-China trade tensions, meanwhile, remained in the focus after a U.S. financial delegation, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, failed to make any big breakthroughs following trade talks with Beijing.
In other precious metal trade, silver futures rose 0.32% to $16.50 a troy ounce, while platinum futures gained 0.60% to $909.00 an ounce.
Copper rose 0.05% to $3.08.
Crude oil prices settled at three-and-a-half-year highs as traders increased their bets the U.S. would pull out the Iran nuclear deal next week, raising the potential for tighter global crude stockpiles.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for June delivery rose $1.29, or 1.89%, to settle at $69.72 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent rose 1.75% to trade at $74.91 a barrel.
Ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to stick or twist with the Iran nuclear deal, traders appeared to bet that Trump would likely choose the latter, leading to the re-imposition of secondary sanctions on Iran, pressuring countries to cut their purchases of Iranian crude.
New sanctions against Iran – the third-largest OPEC producer – would likely slash global supplies at a time when the country’s exports rose to a post-deal high, according to Bloomberg.
Iran crude shipments climbed to 2.48 million barrels a day last month from 2.06 million a day in March, Bloomberg said Tuesday, citing ship-tracking data.
Focus on the prospect of lower global supplies has dominated flows in oil prices, overshadowing data from energy services firm Baker Hughes showing the number of oil rigs operating in the US rose by 9 to 834, that was the fifth-straight weekly increase.
The relentless pace of US oil expansion has continued unabated rising to 10.6 million barrels per day last week, the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. Offsetting that, however, was continued output cuts from OPEC and its allies.
Total OPEC production fell to the lowest since March 2017, according to a monthly report from OPEC last month, following persistently strong compliance by major oil producers with the deal to curb output.
Natural Gas (Thursday report)
Natural gas futures were under pressure on Thursday morning, falling to their lowest level in almost two weeks after data showed that domestic supplies in storage rose more than expected last week.
Front-month U.S. natural gas futures lost 4.7 cents, or around 1.7%, to $2.707 per million British thermal units (btu) by 10:35AM ET (1435GMT), its lowest since April 20. Futures were at $2.725 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 62 billion cubic feet (bcf) in the week ended April 27, compared to forecasts for a gain of 47 bcf.
It was the first build of the storage injection season.
That compared with a decline of 18 bcf in the preceding week, an increase of 67 bcf a year earlier and a five-year average rise of 69 bcf.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 1.343 trillion cubic feet (tcf), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
That figure is 903 bcf, or around 40.2%, lower than levels at this time a year ago, and 534 bcf, or roughly 28.4%, below the five-year average for this time of year.
Market experts warned that futures are likely to remain vulnerable in the near-term as below-normal temperatures in May mean less than they do in January and February.
Spring usually sees the weakest demand for natural gas in the U.S, as the absence of extreme temperatures curbs demand for heating and air conditioning.
See also Friday (today) report: Natural Gas Edges Lower as Demand Slumps (FXEmpire).
