Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.79%
U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Telecoms, Utilities and Healthcare sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.79%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.81%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.79%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average wereCaterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which rose 4.18% or 5.44 points to trade at 135.67 at the close. Meanwhile, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) added 3.38% or 1.61 points to end at 49.31 and Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was up 2.90% or 1.42 points to 50.40 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), which fell 2.13% or 4.16 points to trade at 190.69 at the close. Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) declined 0.96% or 1.12 points to end at 115.49 and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) was down 0.20% or 0.26 points to 130.37.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) which rose 4.85% to 94.270, Raymond James Financial Inc (NYSE:RJF) which was up 4.54% to settle at 79.73 and American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) which gained 4.53% to close at 40.16.
The worst performers were Laboratory Corporation of America (NYSE:LH) which was down 9.99% to 145.64 in late trade, Hasbro Inc (NASDAQ:HAS) which lost 6.04% to settle at 91.00 and Marriott International Inc (NASDAQ:MAR) which was down 5.59% to 115.03 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Borqs Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:BRQS) which rose 122.66% to 5.70, Adial Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ADIL) which was up 37.14% to settle at 3.84 and Determine Inc (NASDAQ:DTRM) which gained 29.15% to close at 0.607.
The worst performers were China Ceramics Co Ltd (NASDAQ:CCCL) which was down 27.65% to 1.2300 in late trade, Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp (NASDAQ:TNXP) which lost 25.54% to settle at 5.190 and AeroVironment Inc (NASDAQ:AVAV) which was down 16.45% to 76.60 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1680 to 1409 and 78 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1463 rose and 1205 declined, while 79 ended unchanged.
Shares in Laboratory Corporation of America (NYSE:LH) fell to 52-week lows; falling 9.99% or 16.17 to 145.64. Shares in China Ceramics Co Ltd (NASDAQ:CCCL) fell to 3-years lows; down 27.65% or 0.4700 to 1.2300.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.83% to 18.07.
Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.24% or 3.00 to $1227.40 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 1.42% or 0.73 to hit $50.72 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 1.15% or 0.69 to trade at $59.22 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.66% to 1.1318, while USD/JPY rose 0.04% to 113.53.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.46% at 97.145.
See also:
Stocks – Dow Clinches Monthly Gain Amid Late Rally on Trade Hopes
Mexico stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/BMV IPC down 0.46%
Canada stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/TSX Composite down 0.04%
The U.S. dollar rose against its rivals Friday, on stronger U.S. manufacturing data and a weakness in the euro, ahead of a crucial meeting between the U.S. and China at the G20 summit.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose by 0.50% to 97.18. The greenback remained on track to modest gain for November.
The Chicago PMI, a closely-watched indicator by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), rose to a reading of 66.4 in November from 58.4 the prior month, topping economists’ estimates for a reading of 58.6.
The upbeat data on regional manufacturing comes as investor focus shifted to the G20 Summit in Argentina, where President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping will meet to discuss trade at a dinner on Saturday.
Ahead of the summit Trump touted optimism, saying there were “good signs” for the talks with China.
Trump said recently that he plans to increase the current 10% tariffs on Chinese imports by January next year, risking a further escalating in tensions between the world’s largest two economies .
The dollar was also supported by slump in the euro after eurozone inflation dataundershot economists’ forecasts, denting investor expectations that the European Central Bank may adopt a more aggressive outlook on monetary policy sooner rather than later.
EUR/USD fell 0.73% to $1.1310.
GBP/USD fell 0.30% to $1.2748 as Brexit angst remained front and center, offsetting better-than-expected U.K. housing data.
CAD/USD rose 0.13% as falling oil prices and weaker-than-expected Canada economic growth data weighed on the loonie.
USD/JPY rose 0.15% to Y113.65.
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There’s no trade deal on the table yet, but the gold market’s betting that President Donald Trump will at least suggest he has one down the road with China. And that was enough for the yellow metal to end a second-straight month in the green and stay above its key $1,200 perch.
Benchmark gold futures on New York’s COMEX settled down $4.40, or 0.4%, at 1,226 per troy ounce on Friday. But for November, the market posted a nominal 0.5% gain, keeping up with October’s advance of 1.6%.
George Gero, precious metals analyst with RBC Wealth Management in New York, said:
“Today was all about end-of-month book squaring and expectations on what the G20 meeting betwen President Trump and China’s President Xi could bring.”
But there’s no clear indication of what a U.S.-China trade agreement could do for gold.
Some analysts think it’ll be good for physical demand of bullion in China as consumers there, spurred by a feel-good sentiment, could splurge on jewelry.
Others are betting gold will fall as a contrarian trade to equities, which are almost certain to ramp up on any sign of an end to the bitter acrimony between Washington and Beijing that has already led to hundreds of billions of dollars of duties imposed on bilateral trade.
Trump and Xi are due to meet over dinner on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires on Saturday. U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer told reporters covering the G20 on Friday that he would be “very surprised” if the bilateral meeting “was not a success.”
Analysts were more circumspect. Walter Pehowich, executive vice president at Dillon Gage Metals in Addison, Texas, wrote in his daily note on gold:
“Does anyone think that an agreement on tariffs could be accomplished over a dinner and a glass of wine? Really?”
Even so, Pehowich said, knowing Trump:
“he will tell the world that they have come to an agreement and, in turn, because they have to sort out their options over time (sort of work in process), he has decided not to start with a 25% tariff rate at the beginning of the year.”
The U.S. president had previously warned that without a trade deal, he might boost existing tariffs to 25% from 10% on some $200 billion of Chinese goods, beginning Jan. 1.
Pehowich said many gold traders he had spoken with were ready to enter the gold market if prices could break beyond $1,232. Friday’s session high came just shy of that at $1,231. Pehowich wrote:
“If he (Trump) claims he has a deal, initially the gold market should catch a bid and trade through that level. But because of the anticipated rally in equities, I believe the $1,232 level will not be sustainable. If there is no deal at all, you could expect the price of gold to go through that level in lightning speed.”
See also:
- Gold prices fall for the week, gain for the month (MarketWatch)
A 22% drop for November. That was the price West Texas Intermediate crude paid after the Russians stalled again on a production cut, sending the oil market to its biggest monthly loss in a decade.
U.S. crude futures finished with their worst month since 2008 after Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told domestic news service TASS that producers and consumers were comfortable with current prices. It was the clearest sign that Moscow saw little or no need to contribute to production cuts when it joins Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers at the OPEC+ meeting in Vienna on Dec. 6.
WTI, which teetered above and below $50 per barrel in Friday’s early trade, settled down 52 cents, or 1%, at $50.93 per barrel. It sunk earlier to $49.66, its lowest level since Oct 2017. WTI’s 22% loss for November was the second-straight double-digit monthly drop for U.S. crude after October’s 11% decline. U.S. crude futures are now looking at a 16% loss for all of 2018, after being up more than 25% on the year at the start of October.
U.K. Brent, the global benchmark for oil, was down 67 cents, or 1.1%, at $59.24 per barrel by 2:48 PM ET (19:48 GMT). Earlier in the session, Brent fell to $58.05, and last week it broke below the $60 perch it had held since July 2017. For November, Brent was down 21%, with an 11% loss on the year.
While Russian minister Novak undoubtedly added to Friday’s dour mood in oil, industry officials in Moscow seemed to be singing a different tune just a day ago, at least based on a Reuters report. Citing sources, the news service said the Novak had met with domestic crude producers and reached a consensus that an output reduction was necessary. WTI and U.K. Brent, the global benchmark for oil, settled up more than 2% on that speculation, one of the few decent rebounds for this month.
Data from U.S. oil services firm Baker Hughes also weighed on Friday’s market as it indicated oil drillers added rigs for a third week in four and increased the rig count for the fifth-consecutive month, even though crude prices this week fell to their lowest level since October 2017. While there were only two new rigs this week to bring the count to 887, it added to the overall negative impact.
Just two months ago, oil prices were still rising, reaching four-year highs in October from a rally that began in May after President Donald Trump vowed to bring Iranian crude exports to zero under new sanctions.
But in under eight weeks, crude prices have lost more than a third of their value after Trump’s sanctions proved tamer than thought and record U.S., Saudi and Russian output flooded the market with supply.
Equally damaging to the psyche of the market have been tweets from the president that the Saudis should not cut output, a directive traders had expected Riyadh to comply with, given its potential exposure to U.S. sanctions after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Aside from the Russian-Saudi OPEC theater on Friday, traders were also getting restless that the G20 meeting in Buenos Aires had not yielded any breakthrough yet on a potential U.S.-China trade deal, one of the few things that could boost global optimism and energy demand in the world’s second-largest economy.
“Oil Is asking ‘What’s new Buenos Aires?’ ” Phil Flynn, energy analyst at Chicago’s Price Futures Group wrote in his daily note. “The big G20 meeting will basically tell the tale of oil going forward.”
“Bottom line, OPEC needs to announce a big cut or it will be up to President Trump to cut a deal with China to save the price of oil.”
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Natural Gas (FXEmpire)
Natural gas prices moved lower on Friday but continued to remain in a wide range, following Thursday’s inventory report which showed a smaller draw than expected. The weather is expected to be colder than normal over the next 6-10 days, but the climate is expected to moderate which is reflected in the 8-14-day forecast. Support from production in conjunction with imports from Canada rose in the last week climbing by nearly 1%. Demand from residential use, industrial use and electrical use basically remain flat from the prior week. Inventories remain below the 5-year average range, while prices are still 50% below the 5-year highs.
Technical Analysis
Natural gas prices whipsawed on Friday, making a higher high and a higher low and holding just above support near the 10-day moving average at 4.46. Additional support is seen near this weeks low at 43.99. Resistance is seen near the November highs at 4.92. Short term momentum is neutral to negative as the fast stochastic generated a crossover sell signal near the top end of the neutral range. The MACD (moving average convergence divergence) histogram is printing in the black with a flat trajectory which reflects consolidation.
Supply Increased Slightly
Supply increases slightly as both production and net Canadian imports rise, according to the EIA. Total supply of natural gas rose by 1%, averaging 92.9 Bcf per day, compared with the previous report week. Dry natural gas production grew by 1%, averaging 88.5 Bcf per day, and average net imports from Canada increased by 1% from last week.
Demand was Flat
The EIA reports that total U.S. consumption of natural gas was unchanged from the previous report week, averaging 84.2 Bcf per day. Natural gas consumed for power generation declined by 4% week over week. Industrial sector consumption stayed constant, and consumption in the residential and commercial sectors increased by 4%. Natural gas exports to Mexico decreased 1%.
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