Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.41%
U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare, Technology and Consumer Services sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.41%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.85%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 1.34%.
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 wereGeneral Electric Company (NYSE:GE), which rose 3.13% or 0.42 points to trade at 13.85 at the close. Meanwhile, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) added 1.40% or 1.40 points to end at 101.16 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) was up 1.39% or 2.57 points to 187.97 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which fell 0.29% or 0.40 points to trade at 135.41 at the close. DowDuPont Inc (NYSE:DWDP) declined 0.21% or 0.14 points to end at 65.93 and Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) was down 0.09% or 0.07 points to 76.48.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB) which rose 19.63% to 357.48, Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) which was up 5.55% to settle at 16.360 and DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ:DISH) which gained 4.29% to close at 34.99.
The worst performers were CBOE Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CBOE) which was down 2.09% to 100.79 in late trade, Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE:NEM) which lost 1.56% to settle at 37.83 and Allegion PLC (NYSE:ALLE) which was down 1.31% to 76.86 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Black Box Corporation (NASDAQ:BBOX) which rose 113.68% to 2.03, AC Immune Ltd (NASDAQ:ACIU) which was up 38.28% to settle at 12.86 and Xenetic Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:XBIO) which gained 22.45% to close at 5.290.
The worst performers were Regulus Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:RGLS) which was down 52.13% to 0.350 in late trade, Real Goods Solar Inc (NASDAQ:RGSE) which lost 24.06% to settle at 0.4025 and China Lending Corp (NASDAQ:CLDC) which was down 23.93% to 2.48 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2232 to 809 and 132 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1721 rose and 825 declined, while 130 ended unchanged.
Shares in Regulus Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:RGLS) fell to all time lows; losing 52.13% or 0.381 to 0.350.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 10.75% to 13.36.
Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.24% or 3.00 to $1255.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 1.29% or 0.94 to hit $73.88 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 0.43% or 0.33 to trade at $77.06 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.49% to 1.1747, while USD/JPY fell 0.21% to 110.43.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.41% at 93.74.
See also:
Canada stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/TSX Composite up 0.55%
Mexico stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/BMV IPC up 0.86%
The dollar slumped against its rivals Friday, on mixed U.S. economic data showing the economy created more jobs than expected but wage growth undershot estimates.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.34% to 93.81.
The U.S. economy added 213,000 jobs in June, above forecasts for 200,000 new jobswhile the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 4%, the Labor Department said on Friday.
The Federal Reserve’s view that a tighter labor market would lead to wage growth, increasing inflationary pressures, continues to be challenged as average hourly earnings grew slower-than-expected for the month.
Average hourly earnings grew 0.2%, undershooting economists’ forecast for a 0.3% increase.
The weaker average hourly earnings print scaled back some bullish investor expectations for two Fed rate hikes this year. Audrey Childe-Freeman, chief strategist at consultants FX Knowledge, said:
“The softer average earnings indicator is likely to catch more attention as it highlights a still tame wage inflation environment. That could lead some market participants to start questioning whether we will see two Fed rate rises in second after all.”
The dollar was also weighed down by an uptick in the Canadian dollar as upbeat employment data, reaffirmed investor expectations that the Bank of Canadian would hike interest rates by 25 basis points next week.
USD/CAD fell 0.33% to C$1.3090
U.S, and China trade tariffs kicked in Friday, raising the prospect of a trade war between the world’s largest economic superpowers, but the reaction in safe-haven currencies was muted, as some said markets had priced in the impact.
USD/JPY fell 0.14% to Y110.49, while USD/CHF fell 0.35% to 0.9898.
EUR/USD rose 0.46% to $1.1744, while GBP/USD rose 0.34% to $1.3269.
Commitments of Traders (Report for week ending 26 June)
This week speculators were more bullish on the S&P 500 and crude oil. Bullishness decreased for gold and copper.
Note: The data is for the week ending on Tuesday 19 June so the last 8 days of trading are not reflected.
Gold prices fell Friday, but remained on track to snap a three-week losing streak amid dollar weakness, which also drew a strong rebound in the price of other metals.
Gold futures for August delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $3.00, or 0.23%, to $1,255.90 a troy ounce.
The dollar was set for a weekly slump as a mixed U.S. jobs report dampened investor expectations for a faster pace of rate hikes.
The U.S. economy added 213,000 jobs in June, above forecasts for 200,000 new jobs, while the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 4%, and Average hourly earnings grew 0.2%, undershooting economists’ forecast for a 0.3% increase.
“The softer average earnings indicator is likely to catch more attention as it highlights a still tame wage inflation environment,” said Audrey Childe-Freeman, chief strategist at consultants FX Knowledge. “That could lead some market participants to start questioning whether we will see two Fed rate rises in second after all.”
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.34% to 93.81.
Dollar-denominated assets such as gold are sensitive to moves in the dollar. A fall in the dollar makes gold cheaper for holders of foreign currency and increases demand for the precious metal.
In other metals trade, market participants appeared to take profits on their bearish bets on metal prices, which rebounded from multi-month lows. Some said that the impact of U.S. and China trade tariffs on markets – which kicked in on Friday – had been priced in.
Copper prices, which sunk to their lowest in more than one year Thursday, fell 0.25% to $2.82, and zinc prices rose 1.99% to 2,748.75.
Aluminium prices rose 0.31% to 2,087.45 amid investor expectations for a decline in output following a statement from China earlier this week pledging to shut down some smelters in bid to firm up environment control.
Silver futures fell 0.17%% to $16.06 a troy ounce, while platinum futures rose 0.70% to $874.30.
WTI crude oil prices settled higher Friday, despite data showing a ramp up in the number of U.S. oil rigs, signalling a potential expansion in domestic crude output.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for August delivery rose 1.2% to settle at $73.80 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent fell 23 cents to trade at $77.16 a barrel.
Oilfield services firm Baker Hughes reported on Friday that the number of U.S. oil drilling rigs in operation rose by 5 to 863 in the week to June 29. That comes on the back of two-straight weeks of falling rig counts.
Crude oil prices were supported, however, by ongoing bets on a shortage in global crude supplies amid rising oil demand, the potential for a larger drop in Iranian crude exports – amid looming U.S. sanctions – and ongoing challenges in Venezuela’s energy industry.
Expectations for a shortage in global crude supplies come against the backdrop of rising Russian and Saudi output.
The Saudis reportedly informed OPEC that they raised output by 458,000 barrels a day (bpd) in June, from the prior month, Reuters reported, citing OPEC.
A monthly S&P Global Platts OPEC survey, meanwhile, showed Saudi Arabia pumped 10.39 million bpd in June, up from 10.01 million bpd in May – the highest Saudi production level since December 2016.
Crude oil prices posted a weekly loss after suffering a hefty sell-off Thursday, when U.S. crude supplies unexpected rose as imports surged.
Inventories of U.S. crude rose by 1.245 million barrels for the week ended June 30, confounding expectations for a draw of 5.20 million barrels, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
See also Oil Forecast: Bearish Series Unfolds as Monthly Opening Range Snaps (Daily FX).
Natural Gas (Report from FXEmpire – Thursday)
Natural gas prices continued to trend lower despite warmer than normal weather that is forecast to cover most of the United States for the next 8-14 days. It also appears that the weather will be unseasonably hot over the next week to 10-days which should boost cooling demand over the next 2-weeks. Despite the forecast for warmer weather as inventories that continue to grow slower than expected, prices are facing headwinds. The EIA will release its next inventory report on Friday July 6, one day late due to the July 4 holiday. Prices dropped through support which is now resistance near the 50-day moving average at 2.87. Support is seen near an upward sloping trend line at 2.67. Momentum has turned negative as the MACD (moving average convergence divergence) index generated a crossover sell signal. This occurs as the MACD index (the 12-day moving average minus the 26-day moving average) crosses below the MACD signal line (the 9-day moving average of the MACD line).The MACD histogram is printing in the red with a downward sloping trajectory which points to lower prices.
The Weather is Warmer than Normal
Temperatures are in the higher than normal range for the storage week. Temperatures in the Lower 48 states averaged 75 degrees Fahrenheit 4°F higher than normal and the same as last year at this time. Temperatures were 3°F higher than the level reported for the previous week.
Reported net injections into storage are lower than the median of the range of analysts
Reported net injections into storage are lower than the median of the range of analysts’ expectations. According to the EIA survey of natural gas analysts, estimates of the weekly net change from working natural gas storage ranged from net injections of 58 Bcf to 77 Bcf, with a median estimate of 71 Bcf.
See also Natural Gas Prices Up on Mixed News and Trader Sentiment (NASDAQ).
