Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.34%
U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Oil & Gas, Basic Materials and Technology sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.34%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.11%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.19%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG), which rose 1.83% or 1.39 points to trade at 77.38 at the close. Meanwhile, Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) added 1.53% or 1.14 points to end at 75.84 and Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was up 1.24% or 0.54 points to 44.12 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which fell 2.04% or 3.12 points to trade at 150.02 at the close. Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) declined 1.95% or 2.47 points to end at 124.04 and General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) was down 1.63% or 0.22 points to 13.30.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Discovery Inc Class A (NASDAQ:DISCA) which rose 6.55% to 27.17, Discovery Communications C Inc (NASDAQ:DISCK) which was up 4.80% to settle at 25.31 and Harley-Davidson Inc (NYSE:HOG) which gained 3.94% to close at 45.94.
The worst performers were Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) which was down 5.35% to 19.99 in late trade, Newfield Exploration Company (NYSE:NFX) which lost 4.52% to settle at 27.88 and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) which was down 4.07% to 65.36 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Apollo Medical Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:AMEH) which rose 59.53% to 25.86, CLPS Inc (NASDAQ:CLPS) which was up 45.90% to settle at 8.90 and TapImmune Inc (NASDAQ:TPIV) which gained 21.39% to close at 10.5000.
The worst performers were Tintri Inc (NASDAQ:TNTR) which was down 56.29% to 0.31 in late trade, Achieve Life Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:ACHV) which lost 29.81% to settle at 3.6500 and NF Energy Saving Corporation (NASDAQ:NFEC) which was down 18.26% to 3.7600 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1654 to 1388 and 134 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1322 rose and 1205 declined, while 142 ended unchanged.
Shares in Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) rose to all time highs; gaining 1.53% or 1.14 to 75.84. Shares in Tintri Inc (NASDAQ:TNTR) fell to all time lows; falling 56.29% or 0.41 to 0.31. Shares in CLPS Inc (NASDAQ:CLPS) rose to all time highs; gaining 45.90% or 2.80 to 8.90. Shares in Achieve Life Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:ACHV) fell to 52-week lows; down 29.81% or 1.5500 to 3.6500. Shares in TapImmune Inc (NASDAQ:TPIV) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 21.39% or 1.8500 to 10.5000.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.24% to 11.97.
Gold Futures for August delivery was down 1.95% or 25.50 to $1282.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July fell 3.50% or 2.34 to hit $64.55 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract fell 3.46% or 2.63 to trade at $73.31 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.35% to 1.1609, while USD/JPY fell 0.02% to 110.61.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.16% at 94.78.
See also:
Canada stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/TSX Composite down 0.21%
Mexico stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/BMV IPC down 0.55%
The U.S. dollar retreated Friday as the U.S. said it would move ahead with hefty tariffs on Chinese goods, raising fears of a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.13% to 94.80.
Trump, confirmed Friday that a 25 percent tariff would be imposed on a list of imports from China, and vowed further levies could be imposed if Beijing retaliated, raising the prospect of a trade war.
Mostly bullish U.S. economic did little to spark a recovery in the greenback as Empire State manufacturing and Michigan consumer sentiment topped expectations but industrial production unexpectedly fell.
The dollar was also held back by a rebound in the euro, which suffered its worst day in two years on Thursday following a somewhat dovish tilt from the European Central Bank.
The European Central Bank said Wednesday that interest rates would be left unchanged until the summer of 2019.
EUR/USD rose 0.33% to $1.1606, while GBP/USD added 0.15% to $1.3281
USD/CAD rose 0.69% to C$1.3192 as a plunge in oil prices weighed on the loonie amid expectations OPEC and its allies will ramp up output.
USD/JPY fell 0.05% to Y110.58 as trade war fears stoked demand for safe-haven yen.
Commitments of Traders (Report for week ending 05 June)
This week speculators were less bullish on the euro and crude oil. Bullishness increased for copper and the S&P 500.
Note: The data is for the week ending on Tuesday 05 June so the last 8 days of trading are not reflected.
Gold prices continued to languish at year-to-date lows despite the dollar turning negative and rising geopolitical tensions amid growing fears of a U.S.-China trade war.
Gold futures for August delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $27.60 or 2.11%, to $1,280.70 a troy ounce.
Gold fell as the dollar posted a fresh 2018 high before profit taking sparked a reversal pressuring the greenback lower.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.13% to 94.80 after trading as high as 95.15.
The return of trade tensions, meanwhile, did little to spark demand for safe-haven gold after President Trump said the U.S. would impose a 25% tariff on billions of dollars of Chinese goods, and threatened further tariffs if Beijing decided to retaliate.
Beijing ignored Trump’s threats, however, vowing to immediately impose penalties of the “same scale” on American goods, raising the prospect of a tit-for-tat trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
Some cited gold’s breach of a key technical level around $1,307 as the catalyst for the selloff, which emerged just days after the Federal Reserve signalled a faster pace of rate hikes for this year and the next.
The odds of a fourth rate hike at the Fed’s December meeting has soared to 51.1% from 33.8% the previous week, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
In a rising interest rate environment, investor appetite for gold weakens as the opportunity cost of holding the precious metal increases relative to other interest-bearing assets such as bonds.
In other precious metal trade, silver futures fell 4.44% to $16.50 a troy ounce, while platinum futures fell 2.62% at $887.00 an ounce.
Copper fell 2.42% to $3.14.
WTI crude oil prices settled lower as data pointing to an ongoing expansion in U.S. output and fears that Saudi Arabia and Russia were set to hike production weighed on sentiment.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for July delivery fell 2.74% to settle at $65.06 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent fell 3.41% to trade at $73.35 a barrel.
The number of oil rigs operating in the US increased for a fourth-straight week, rising by 1 to 863, according to data from energy services firm Baker Hughes, pointing to signs of an expansion in U.S. output.
The continued uptick in drilling activity comes as the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday U.S. oil output rose to a record 10.9 million barrels.
Crude oil prices had started the session on the back foot after Russia Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Thursday after talks with Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih that both nations agreed to gradually increase production.
Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Al Falih had previously attempted to temper investor fears of a sharp rise in production, insisting earlier this week the uptick in output would be reasonable and won’t be anything “outlandish.”
Traders fear that an uptick in global output would slow the rebalancing in oil markets as the production-cut agreement has proved effective in slashing the glut in global crude supplies.
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 and is expected to come under review at the oil-cartel’s next meeting on June 22.
See also Russia says OPEC+ deal members to discuss possible quota changes next week (Reuters).
Natural Gas (FX Empire)
Natural gas prices were nearly unchanged as prices were unable to move above resistance near the Fibonacci retracement of the decline in prices from January to February at 2.96. Prices have found support near the 10-day moving average at 2.93. A larger than expected build in natural gas inventories weighed on prices. Momentum is neutral as the MACD (moving average convergence divergence) histogram prints near the zero-index level with a flat trajectory which reflects consolidation.
Inventories Rose More than Expected
Working gas in storage was 1,913 Bcf as of Friday, June 8, 2018, according to EIA estimates. This represents a net increase of 96 Bcf from the previous week, more than the 87 Bcf rise expected. Stocks were 785 Bcf less than last year at this time and 507 Bcf below the five-year average of 2,420 Bcf. At 1,913 Bcf, total working gas is within the five-year historical range.
U.S. dry natural gas production averaged 73.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2017. EIA forecasts dry natural gas production will average 81.2 Bcf/d in 2018, establishing a new record. EIA expects natural gas production will rise again in 2019 to 83.8 Bcf/d.
LNG Exports are On the Rise
Growing forecast U.S. natural gas production supports increasing forecast liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. LNG exports averaged 1.9 Bcf/d in 2017. EIA forecasts LNG exports to average 3.0 Bcf/d in 2018 and 5.1 Bcf/d in 2019. Dominion Energy’s Cove Point LNG facility is ramping up exports. In April, the facility exported an estimated 13.4 Bcf, implying baseload utilization of 65%, and in May, it exported an estimated 23.5 Bcf, implying baseload utilization of 94%.
