Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks mixed at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.49%
U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Friday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Basic Materials and Telecoms sectors led shares higher while losses in the Technology, Financials and Consumer Services sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.49%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.19%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.26%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were DowDuPont Inc (NYSE:DWDP), which rose 2.63% or 1.72 points to trade at 67.00 at the close. Meanwhile, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) added 2.50% or 4.02 points to end at 164.55 and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) was up 2.32% or 1.13 points to 49.76 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), which fell 1.64% or 1.76 points to trade at 105.75 at the close. Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) declined 1.45% or 2.90 points to end at 197.41 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was down 0.72% or 0.73 points to 100.41.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were CarMax Inc (NYSE:KMX) which rose 12.86% to 80.19, Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) which was up 7.83% to settle at 21.48 and Anadarko Petroleum Corp (NYSE:APC) which gained 6.69% to close at 74.11.
The worst performers were Red Hat Inc (NYSE:RHT) which was down 14.23% to 142.14 in late trade, F5 Networks Inc (NASDAQ:FFIV) which lost 4.84% to settle at 171.47 and Macy’s Inc (NYSE:M) which was down 4.81% to 37.43 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Apollo Medical Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:AMEH) which rose 50.60% to 30.00, Restoration Robotics Inc (NASDAQ:HAIR) which was up 33.33% to settle at 3.64 and Soleno Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SLNO) which gained 33.05% to close at 3.100.
The worst performers were Inpixon (NASDAQ:INPX) which was down 33.07% to 0.1941 in late trade, Research Frontiers Incorporated (NASDAQ:REFR) which lost 27.44% to settle at 0.595 and Xenetic Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:XBIO) which was down 21.67% to 2.820 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2025 to 1028 and 122 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1331 rose and 1234 declined, while 109 ended unchanged.
Shares in CarMax Inc (NYSE:KMX) rose to all time highs; gaining 12.86% or 9.14 to 80.19. Shares in Anadarko Petroleum Corp (NYSE:APC) rose to 52-week highs; rising 6.69% or 4.65 to 74.11. Shares in Apollo Medical Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:AMEH) rose to 52-week highs; rising 50.60% or 10.08 to 30.00. Shares in Inpixon (NASDAQ:INPX) fell to 5-year lows; losing 33.07% or 0.0959 to 0.1941. Shares in Research Frontiers Incorporated (NASDAQ:REFR) fell to all time lows; down 27.44% or 0.225 to 0.595.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 6.01% to 13.76.
Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.09% or 1.20 to $1271.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 5.86% or 3.84 to hit $69.38 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 3.68% or 2.69 to trade at $75.74 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.51% to 1.1662, while USD/JPY fell 0.02% to 109.97.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.37% at 94.19.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.16% at 94.78.
See also:
Canada stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/TSX Composite up 0.04%
Mexico stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/BMV IPC up 0.60%
The U.S. dollar was on track to post a weekly loss against its rivals as mixed U.S. economic data weighed on sentiment and ongoing euro strength curbed upside momentum.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.25% to 94.30 after trading as high as 94.55 in the session.
Mixed U.S. economic data did little to encourage traders to return to the greenback, as a preliminary reading of services PMI for June topped expectations, while manufacturing PMI data fell short.
The euro continued its comeback against the dollar from an 11-month low seen Thursday, buoyed by composite eurozone purchasing managers index surveyreadings that topped economists’ estimates.
The single currency had suffered a slight wobble before paring losses after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a 20% tariff on all car imports from the EU. This comes less than a day after the EU’s retaliatory tariffs on imported U.S. goods came into effect late Thursday.
EUR/USD climbed 0.37% to $1.1646.
USD/CAD held firm, rising 0.05% to C$1.3321, as Canadian inflation dataunderwhelmed, raising doubts about the prospect of a July rate hike.
Losses in the loonie were limited, however, by soaring oil prices after OPEC struck a deal to lift crude output.
GBP/USD, meanwhile, added to its recent gains, rising 0.20% to $1.3268 as the Bank of England’s hawkish tilt Thursday continued to support the pair.
USD/JPY fell 0.05% to Y109.93 as safe-haven demand stoked a bid in the yen amid lingering trade tensions.
Commitments of Traders (Report for week ending 19 June)
This week speculators were less bullish on the euro, gold, and crude oil. Bullishness increased for the S&P 500. The pound sterling and the yen turned bearish
Note: The data is for the week ending on Tuesday 19 June so the last 3 days of trading are not reflected.
Gold prices remained close to their lowest level this year as a weaker dollar failed to stoke appetite for the yellow metal.
Gold futures for August delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $0.50 or 0.04%, to $1,270.10 a troy ounce. Gold prices had hit a 2018 low of $1,260.00 on Thursday before clawing back losses.
A sluggish dollar drew a muted reaction in gold prices – which remained on course for a second-straight weekly slump after falling nearly 3% this week – as traders fear a more hawkish Federal Reserve would stifle demand for the yellow metal.
Expectations for a fourth rate hike at the Fed’s December meeting rose to nearly 50% from about 40% on Thursday, according investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor tool.
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.
Gold prices were also unable to capitalise on a modest uptick in safe haven demand in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 20% tariff on all car imports from the EU.
Renewed threats of trade penalties on imported EU goods come a day after the EU’s retaliatory tariffs on imported U.S. goods came into effect late Thursday.
In other precious metal trade, silver futures rose 0.70% to $16.44 a troy ounce, while platinum futures climbed 1.36% to $875.10 an ounce.
Copper prices gained 0.28% to $3.03.
WTI crude oil prices settled nearly 5% higher Friday as OPEC’s crude output hike was more modest than some producers had hoped, easing investor fears that a wave of crude supply would hold back oil prices.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for August delivery rose 4.6% to settle at $68.58 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent climbed 3.4% to trade at $75.55 a barrel.
OPEC agreed Friday to ease crude output limits, paving the way for fresh crude supply to enter the market, reducing the risk of a shortage in global crude stockpiles.
OPEC said it wanted countries – part of the production cut agreement – to increase production, returning to 100% compliance with agreed quotas by 1 July 2018.
The call from OPEC demanding members return to agreed quotes comes as member countries had been cutting output by more than required, pushing compliance 52% above the output curbs agreed in November 2016.
While the oil-cartel appeared reluctant to give specific numbers on quotas, Saudi Arabia said the move would equate into a nominal output rise of around 1 million barrels per day (bpd), or 1% of global supply.
Analysts said, however, that a number of producers in the OPEC-led accord would struggle to increase output, leading to a more modest boost in crude output. National Alliance said:
“It is important to note that the market should only see a practical increase of about 600,000 barrels a day as a number of countries in the accord aren’t capable of increasing production.”
The deal comes a day after Al-Falih said the production-cut accord – initially agreed in November 2016 – had achieved its goal of rebalancing the oil market, restoring global inventories to the five-year average.
Also helping sentiment on crude prices was a fall in US rig counts for the first time in five weeks, pointing to a possible slowdown in domestic output.
The number of oil rigs operating in the US fell by one to 862, according to data from energy services firm Baker Hughes.
See also U.S. crude spikes more than $3/bbl in biggest daily gain since 2016 (Seeking Alpha).
Natural Gas (Thursday Report)
Natural gas futures stayed higher on Thursday, but came off the best levels of the session after data showed that supplies in storage rose more than forecast last week.
Front-month U.S. natural gas futures inched up 1.5 cents, or around 0.5%, to $2.979 per million British thermal units (btu) by 10:36AM ET (1436GMT). Futures were at around $3.002 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 91 billion cubic feet (bcf) in the week ended June 15, above forecasts for a gain of 85 bcf.
That compared with a build of 96 bcf in the preceding week, an increase of 61 bcf a year earlier and a five-year average rise of 83 bcf.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 2.004 trillion cubic feet (tcf), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
That figure is 757 bcf, or around 27.4%, lower than levels at this time a year ago, and 499 bcf, or roughly 19.9%, below the five-year average for this time of year.
Meanwhile, updated weather forecasting models pointed to above-average temperatures covering most of the country over the next two weeks.
That should help boost early summer cooling demand for the fuel.
Natural gas prices have closely tracked weather forecasts in recent weeks, as traders try to gauge the impact of shifting outlooks on early summer cooling demand.
See also Natural Gas Price Prediction – Prices Slip Following Inventory Build (FXEmpire)
