Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks mixed at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.26%
U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Friday, as gains in the Utilities, Consumer Goods and Telecoms sectors led shares higher while losses in the Healthcare, Oil & Gas and Basic Materials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.26%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.04%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 0.48%.
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 Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG), which rose 8.80% or 7.06 points to trade at 87.30 at the close. Meanwhile, American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) added 3.78% or 3.89 points to end at 106.73 and Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) was up 2.34% or 2.72 points to 118.90 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which fell 2.68% or 3.62 points to trade at 131.32 at the close. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) declined 2.16% or 0.97 points to end at 44.00 and DowDuPont Inc (NYSE:DWDP) was down 1.86% or 1.09 points to 57.49.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Interpublic Group of Companies Inc (NYSE:IPG) which rose 9.65% to 24.65, PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL) which was up 9.42% to settle at 84.78 and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) which gained 8.80% to close at 87.30.
The worst performers were Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) which was down 11.12% to 23.660 in late trade, VF Corporation (NYSE:VFC) which lost 10.71% to settle at 77.76 and Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) which was down 10.28% to 92.76 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were The9 Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:NCTY) which rose 64.56% to 2.600, Future Fintech Group Inc (NASDAQ:FTFT) which was up 35.64% to settle at 1.6277 and Ability Inc (NASDAQ:ABIL) which gained 29.53% to close at 4.02.
The worst performers were Yulong Eco-Materials Ltd (NASDAQ:YECO) which was down 47.23% to 6.200 in late trade, ServiceSource International Inc (NASDAQ:SREV) which lost 46.17% to settle at 1.405 and China Advanced Construction Materials (NASDAQ:CADC) which was down 31.25% to 2.750 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1582 to 1470 and 104 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1874 fell and 761 advanced, while 80 ended unchanged.
Shares in Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) fell to 52-week lows; down 2.68% or 3.62 to 131.32. Shares in Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) rose to 52-week highs; rising 2.34% or 2.72 to 118.90. Shares in DowDuPont Inc (NYSE:DWDP) fell to 52-week lows; falling 1.86% or 1.09 to 57.49. Shares in ServiceSource International Inc (NASDAQ:SREV) fell to all time lows; down 46.17% or 1.205 to 1.405.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.85% to 19.89.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.05% or 0.60 to $1229.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 0.96% or 0.66 to hit $69.31 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 0.83% or 0.66 to trade at $79.95 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.52% to 1.1513, while USD/JPY rose 0.27% to 112.50.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.31% at 95.42.
See also:
Stocks – S&P Closes Flat Amid Earnings-Fueled Rally in Consumer Staples
Canada stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/TSX Composite up 0.22%
Mexico stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/BMV IPC up 0.82%
Peru stocks lower at close of trade; S&P Lima General down 0.89%
S&P 500 Price Forecast – S&P 500 rallies to kick off the weekend (FXEmpire)
The dollar fell against its rivals Friday as data showed pressures in the U.S. housing market continued last month, while a rise in sterling on positive comments from EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier also weighed.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.31% to 95.41.
The Commerce Department showed existing home sales fell 3.4% in September from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.15 million units. Economists were expecting a 0.7% decline to 5.3 million homes. National Association of Realtors chief economist Lawrence Yun said:
“There is a clear shift in the market, homes will take a bit longer to sell compared to the super-heated fast pace seen earlier this year.”
The pound, meanwhile, inflicted further damage on the dollar after EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said a deal with the United Kingdom was 90% complete. But gains were limited on uncertainty over whether the U.K. parliament would ratify any potential Brexit deal amid constant infighting among members of UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s party.
GBP/USD rose 0.35% to $1.3065.
The euro also kept the dollar on the back foot as analysts said most of bad news concerning the Italian budget issue were already baked into the common currency, but added that rising Italian government bond yields may keep a lid on gains in the euro. Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) said:
“If the BTP (Italian government bond) spreads continue to develop like this, we would fill many Daily Currency Briefings with the subject of ‘EUR weakness’.”
EUR/USD rose 0.52% to $1.514.
USD/CAD fell rose 0.22% to C$1.3115 as the loonie was pressured by deluge of soft economic data including consumer inflation data that fell short of economists’ estimates.
BMO Capital Markets said the negative data would not deter the Bank of Canada from raising interest rates next week, but tempered expectations for aggressive rate hikes, warning that “the much calmer inflation and consumer spending backdrop reinforces the lack of urgency” for future rate increases.
USD/JPY rose 0.24% to Y112.47.
See also:
Gold prices settled a touch lower on Friday on profit-taking from recent gains, but a weaker dollar and geopolitical worries still helped bullion coast to a third weekly gain.
Based on current sentiment, market bulls appeared on track with their aim to take out the $1,250 resistance by next week, traders said.
In Friday’s trade, the the dollar index fell 0.3%, helping gold run up initially as a contrarian bet. An early drop of the Dow also boosted gold in early trade before stocks on Wall Street rebounded.
Going into next week, Saudi Arabia’s deepening political crisis with the West over the alleged murder of a missing journalist and Italy’s budget woes should support bullion’s safe-haven appeal, analysts said.
Walter Pehowich, executive vice-president at Dillion Gage Metals in Addison, Texas, said:
[The] “tremendous amount of headlines all over the cable business news channels, from geopolitical headlines to continued equity market weakness and inflation concerns … should attract new investors into gold and Treasuries as a safe haven and an alternative to equities at this time.
“With the economy still operating on all cylinders, no one expects a total rotation out of equities, but there is a growing concern from traders that the results of the midterm elections could derail anything the president has in mind to keep the economy going at strong pace we see today”.
U.S. midterm elections are on Nov. 6.
U.S. gold futures‘ most-active December contract settled down $1.40, or 0.1%, at $1,228.70 per ounce on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week it was up $10.70, or 0.9%, after hitting a near three-month high of $1,236.90 on Monday.
Holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), the largest gold-backed ETF havegained 2.5% in the past two weeks.
In other precious metals trading on COMEX, platinum rose 0.5% to $835.50 per ounce.
Palladium gained 0.6% to $1,071 per ounce. Silver was up 0.3% at $14.65.
Among base metals, COMEX copper rose 1.2% to $2.78 per pound.
See also:
Oil prices rose on Friday, but remained at an inflection point after a rough week.
Reports of record Chinese demand for crude and of producers’ struggling to boost output suggest prices should be higher. But surging stockpiles and a rise in drilling activity in the U.S. indicate the path of least resistance is lower.
The conflicting themes were on display as Brent, the global benchmark for oil, posted a drop of nearly 1% on the week, while WTI had a weekly loss of 3%.
Some think WTI will return to its recent perch above $70 per barrel and dismiss this week’s tumble as aberration, or simply profit-taking, ahead of the expiry of its front-month November contract on Monday. Phil Flynn, an analyst at Chicago’s Price Futures Group, who’s typically bullish on oil, said:
“Despite the weakness into contract expiration, nothing has changed.
He referred to an earlier 3% selloff in WTI on Aug. 15, which he said was ahead of contract expiration as well:
“That was just a correction. So is this down move.”
Others, such as Phil Davis at PSW Investments in New York, believe WTI should trade at $65 or below in coming weeks and that Brent might slip another $5 or so to hover around $75:
“Logically, oil is overpriced with the kind of builds we’ve seen in U.S. crude lately and the growing notion that the Iran sanctions might not hit as hard as thought. The only problem is finding the right entry point to short WTI and Brent.”
WTI settled up 47 cents, or 0.7%, at $69.13 per barrel. The U.S. crude benchmark gave back much of its early gains on data showing the U.S. rig count had risen to March 2015 highs after drillers added four rigs this week.
Brent settled up 49 cents, or 0.6%, at $79.78.
In Friday’s trading, oil was supported by government data showing refinery throughput in China, the world’s largest oil importer, rising to a record high of 12.49 million barrels per day in September as some independent plants restarted operations after prolonged shutdowns over the summer to shore up inventories.
OPEC, meanwhile, was struggling to add barrels to the market after agreeing in June to increase output, according to an internal document seen by Reuters.
Those positive points were offset somewhat by bearish data such as the U.S. crude build of 23 million barrels over the past month, that came in nearly five times above forecasts.
See also:
Natural Gas (FXEmpire)
The natural gas markets have gone back and forth in while trading during the week, as we are essentially neutral at this point. At this juncture, it looks as if we are getting a bit ahead of ourselves, and the previous shooting star of course has me looking at a potential pullback.
Natural gas markets continue to be very noisy, as we go back and forth. We formed a shooting star during the previous week, which of course is a very negative sign. It now looks as if we are somewhat overextended at this point, and I think a pullback makes a lot of sense. At this point, I believe that we will probably pull back towards the $3.10 level, perhaps even the $3.00 level after that. At that point, I would anticipate that buyers will come back into the marketplace due to the fact that we are in the seasonal a bully bullish time of year. If we were to break down below the $3.00 level, it’s likely that we probably unwind all the way back to the $2.75 level.
At this point, I believe that the overall attitude of traders is one that is bullish, due to not only the season, but I think they also are trying to chew up a massive amount of supply. Natural gas suddenly becomes much more profitable for American fracking companies above the $3.00 level, so expect a ton of supply to be leveled on the market. I anticipate that we will see a sharp pullback, followed by another rally in this market, to help the seasonal trade. We are trading the November contract, so at this point it’s likely that we will continue to see people trade the season more than anything else.
.
