Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.68%
U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Technology, Consumer Services, and Basic Materials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.68%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.55%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 1.16%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were PfizerInc (NYSE:PFE), which rose 0.47% or 0.21 points to trade at 44.91 at the close. Meanwhile, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) added 0.46% or 0.77 points to end at 166.57 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was up 0.33% or 0.88 points to 269.20 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which fell 2.29% or 1.10 points to trade at 47.03 at the close. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) declined 2.19% or 3.44 points to end at 153.31 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) was down 1.62% or 3.70 points to 224.29.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) which rose 4.11% to 13.18, Tyson Foods Inc (NYSE:TSN) which was up 2.58% to settle at 61.55 and FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) which gained 2.26% to close at 37.98.
The worst performers were IPG Photonics Corporation (NASDAQ:IPGP) which was down 13.80% to 132.76 in late trade, Newell Brands Inc (NYSE:NWL) which lost 5.76% to settle at 18.82 and Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) which was down 5.62% to 91.05 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Altimmune Inc (NASDAQ:ALT) which rose 54.04% to 7.240, GTX Inc (NASDAQ:GTXI) which was up 35.46% to settle at 1.9100 and Realm Therapeutics PLC ADR (NASDAQ:RLM) which gained 32.86% to close at 2.79.
The worst performers were Histogenics Corp (NASDAQ:HSGX) which was down 39.60% to 0.604 in late trade, KemPharm Inc (NASDAQ:KMPH) which lost 36.36% to settle at 2.66 and Aytu BioScience Inc (NASDAQ:AYTU) which was down 36.14% to 1.2900 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2093 to 999 and 76 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1779 fell and 845 advanced, while 79 ended unchanged.
Shares in IPG Photonics Corporation (NASDAQ:IPGP) fell to 52-week lows; falling 13.80% or 21.26 to 132.76. Shares in Newell Brands Inc (NYSE:NWL) fell to 5-year lows; losing 5.76% or 1.15 to 18.82. Shares in Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) rose to 5-year highs; rising 0.47% or 0.21 to 44.91. Shares in KemPharm Inc (NASDAQ:KMPH) fell to 52-week lows; losing 36.36% or 1.52 to 2.66. Shares in Aytu BioScience Inc (NASDAQ:AYTU) fell to all time lows; losing 36.14% or 0.7300 to 1.2900.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 5.13% to 14.95 a new 3-months high.
Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.52% or 6.20 to $1207.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 0.07% or 0.05 to hit $74.38 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract fell 0.52% or 0.44 to trade at $84.14 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.05% to 1.1521, while USD/JPY fell 0.20% to 113.66.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.13% at 95.31.
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The U.S. dollar fell on Friday after the September jobs report came in lower than expected and 10-year Treasury yields rose to a seven-year high.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.15% to 95.329 as of 9:05 AM ET (13:05 GMT).
The U.S. economy created less jobs than expected in September, but unemployment reached a 48-year low, indicating the economy could be plateauing.
Nonfarm payrolls rose by 134,000 compared to expectations for a 185,000 gain.
Payroll gains for August were revised to 270,000 from the 201,000 initially reported, while July was revised up to 165,000 from 147,000. The unemployment rate fell to 3.7%, a level not seen since 1969. Average hourly earnings, an important number to gauge inflation, rose 2.8% year over year in September.
Meanwhile expectations for a Federal Reserve rate increase in December rose slightly to 77.7%.
After the data release, the yield on the benchmark United States 10-Year Treasury note jumped to 3.227%, a level not seen since 2011.
Elsewhere the euro was slightly higher, while sterling surged amid reports that the European Union and the UK are in the final Brexit negotiation stages.
EUR/USD increased 0.10% to 1.1525 and GBP/USD rose 0.45% to 1.3078.
The dollar slid lower against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.07% to 113.80.
The Australian dollar was higher, with AUD/USD up 0.06% to 0.7078, while NZD/USDfell 0.09% to 0.6474.
The loonie inched up after the employment rate came in much higher than expected. USD/CAD dipped 0.02% to 1.2925.
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Gold rose on Friday, advancing in the bullish $1,200 territory and notching its best weekly gain in six after disappointing U.S. nonfarm payrolls for September weighed on the dollar and prompted investors to seek alternative assets, including bullion and higher-yielding bonds.
Nonfarm payrolls rose by 134,000 last month, the Labor Department said, vs. expectations for a gain of 185,000. But the unemployment rate fell to 3.7%, the lowest in nearly 50 years. TD Securities said in a note:
“The NFP report is about as clear as mud for forex markets. On the whole, we are not convinced that this is a catalyst to trigger additional U.S .dollar gains. If anything, it could be quite the opposite.”
Gold futures for December delivery settled up 0.33%, or $4, at $1,205.60 a troy ounce on the COMEX metals division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, preliminary exchange data showed. The high of the day was $1,212.30, a peak since Aug. 26.
For the week, December gold jumped 1.2%, its best weekly gain since the week ended Aug. 19, Investing.com data showed.
Gold usually rises when the dollar declines, as it is denominated in the U.S. currency and is sensitive to moves in the greenback. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, was down by 0.06% to 95.37 by 2:16 PM ET (1816 GMT) after an intraday low at 95.18.
The yield on the benchmark United States 10-year Treasury, meanwhile, jumped to 3.227%, a level not seen since 2011, before leveling back to 3.208%.
Bond yields have surged since the Federal Reserve added a quarter point to bring U.S. interest rates to between 2% and 2.5% last week in the third rate hike of the year. The Fed inidcated another increase in December and Friday’s jobs numbers were still supportive to the central bank’s plans, analysts said.
Higher interest rates increase bond yields, making non-interest bearing gold less attractive to investors. They also tend to boost the dollar, making dollar-priced gold more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Despite that, gold has held its own against the dollar and Treasuries since last week, with traders saying it was a sign of the precious metal’s return to its status as safe-haven reserve of the world.
Among other precious metals on COMEX, silver rose 0.55% to $14.67 per ounce, platinum rose 0.1 % to $825 and palladium increased 1.6% to $1,061.80 an ounce.
In base metals, copper lost 0.49% to $2.764 a pound.
Crude oil markets notched their fourth-straight weekly gain for their longest winning streak since May, with focus remaining on upcoming U.S. sanctions against Iran, despite mixed price settlements on Friday.
Since data on Wednesday showed the biggest weekly U.S. crude stock build in one-and-a-half years, oil has lost some of its upward momentum.
Crude prices began strongly on Friday, but the gains faded by settlement, despite data showing another weekly drop in the U.S. oil rig count.
Baker Hughes, an oilfield services firm that tracks the U.S. rig population, said the number of rigs actively drilling for oil fell by 2 this week to 861. Rigs have fallen the past three weeks and although the declines are small, it shows drillers haven’t started ramping up production, despite U.S. crude prices crossing $75 per barrel.
U.S. crude’s West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled a penny higher at $74.34 a barrel, after an intraday high at $75.20.
London-traded Brent crude, the benchmark for oil prices outside the U.S., was down 0.58%, or 49 cents, at $84.09 by 2:53 PM ET (18:53 GMT). It hit $85.12 earlier.
For the week, both benchmarks were up and have gained just under 10% for the past four weeks.
WTI posted a gain of 1.5% for the just-ended week and was up 9.5 % in total since the week ended Sept. 2, a winning streak only matched in May, when oil markets began their first earnest rally over Iran worries.
Brent rose about 1.7% for the latest week and more than 9.2% over the past four weeks.
The strong weekly gains signaled that the path of least resistance in oil could be lower and that focus could remain squarely on Iran, which traders said could cause the biggest supply shock in oil since the Libyan crisis of 2010 that saw the ouster of the Gaddafi regime.
Many traders think Russia and other big oil producers in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have little spare capacity to offset a global supply crunch anticipated from export sanctions that will befall Iran from Nov. 4.
Some say supplies will be adequate and that the Iran rhetoric was simply the work of oil bulls bent on getting Brent to $100 a barrel by year-end or 2019 at the latest. Russia and OPEC-lead Saudi Arabia admitted on Thursday they have an agreement to partially boost output, if needed.
“It’s all a matter of timing,” Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) said in a note to clients, explaining the mechanics of the Iranian sanctions.
Goldman said its base case for Iran was a loss of 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd), from a peak of 2.7 million bpd produced by the Islamic state in May.
But the actual size of the disruption will only be known after Nov. 4, when major buyers of Iranian crude from China to India and Europe show how effective the U.S. has been in discouraging them to continue imports, Goldman said. Further from Goldman:
“If the declines in Iran exports are sooner and larger than our base case, it will be harder for other producers to offset them.”
And while trading in oil has been dominated by upside risks, sentiment should turn by next year as a modest supply surplus builds from non-bullish fundamentals outside of Iran, Goldman added.
In other energy trading, gasoline RBOB fell 1.1% to $2.0849 a gallon, while heating oil dipped 0.4% to $2.3905 a gallon. Natural gas slid 0.5% to $3.149 per million British thermal units.
See also:
- Oil prices rise on Iran sanctions, outlook uncertain (Reuters)
- Crude Advances as Alarm Bells Sound Over Impending Supply Crunch (Bloomberg)
No new report this week.
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