Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.82%
U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare, Technology and Industrials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.82%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.67%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.78%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average wereCaterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which rose 2.36% or 3.12 points to trade at 135.49 at the close. Meanwhile, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 2.08% or 5.03 points to end at 247.26 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was up 1.86% or 6.98 points to 381.42 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were 3M Company (NYSE:MMM), which fell 0.36% or 0.75 points to trade at 207.78 at the close. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) added 0.08% or 0.05 points to end at 59.13 and Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) was up 0.07% or 0.06 points to 80.80.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were CarMax Inc (NYSE:KMX) which rose 9.61% to 69.80, Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) which was up 7.88% to settle at 94.34 and Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) which gained 5.06% to close at 41.33.
The worst performers were PVH Corp (NYSE:PVH) which was down 4.17% to 121.95 in late trade, Helmerich & Payne Inc (NYSE:HP) which lost 2.30% to settle at 55.56 and Capri Holdings Ltd (NYSE:CPRI) which was down 1.93% to 45.75 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Estre USA Inc Class A (NASDAQ:ESTR) which rose 38.46% to 1.62, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment (NASDAQ:CSSE) which was up 30.11% to settle at 12.36 and Applied DNA Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:APDN) which gained 31.97% to close at 0.713.
The worst performers were ENDRA Life Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:NDRA) which was down 41.55% to 1.660 in late trade, Dropcar Inc (NASDAQ:DCAR) which lost 33.18% to settle at 2.960 and Eltek Ltd (NASDAQ:ELTK) which was down 25.85% to 1.629 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1796 to 1173 and 127 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1477 rose and 1168 declined, while 84 ended unchanged.
Shares in Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment (NASDAQ:CSSE) rose to all time highs; up 30.11% or 2.86 to 12.36. Shares in Eltek Ltd (NASDAQ:ELTK) fell to 3-years lows; down 25.85% or 0.568 to 1.629.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.99% to 13.71.
Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.14% or 1.75 to $1297.05 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 1.50% or 0.89 to hit $60.19 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 0.80% or 0.54 to trade at $67.64 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.01% to 1.1219, while USD/JPY rose 0.19% to 110.83.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.06% at 96.820.
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Canada stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/TSX Composite down 0.30%
U.K. stocks higher at close of trade; Investing.com United Kingdom 100 up 0.58%
The dollar inched higher Friday as mostly downbeat economic data did little to drown out the narrative of slowing economic growth. But a slump in the pound underpinned the greenback as Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal tasted defeat for the third-straight time.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose by 0.05% to 96.81.
A trio of reports showing a rebound in new home sales, subdued inflation and weaker consumer spending, added somewhat to expectations the Federal Reserve could soon cut interest rates, which would likely exert pressure on the greenback.
The Fed’s preferred inflation measure, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, excluding food and energy, slowed to 1.8% in the 12 months through January, missing the economists’ forecast of 1.9%.
Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, slowed to 0.1% in January, the Commerce Department said.
The Commerce Department also said new home sales rose 4.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 667,000 units last month. That beat economists’ forecasts. BMO said in a note clients:
“Clearly the recent drops in mortgage rates have fed through into some increased buying appetite.”
Average 30-year fixed-rate mortgages declined by 22 basis points from 4.28% to 4.06%, resulting in the biggest single-week decline in rates since 2008, according to Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Survey released on Thursday.
Downside in the dollar, however, was limited by a plunge in sterling as the Withdrawal Agreement, a part of the Brexit deal, was reject by U.K. lawmakers.
Lawmakers voted 344 to 286 to reject the government’s withdrawal agreement.
The result of the vote will have “grave” implications, May said. She added: The “legal default” was that the U.K. would leave the EU on April 12.
That raised concerns that a no-deal Brexit could be on the horizon.
But the lawmakers will gather again on Monday to vote on series of options to find a way out of the current political quagmire. The possible Brexit scenarios include a new referendum, revoking Article 50, a no-deal Brexit and a general election.
GBP/USD fell 0.29% to $1.3006 and EUR/USD rose 0.035 to $1.1217.
USD/JPY rose 0.18% to 110.82 as Wall Street rallied amid improved risk sentiment as the S&P nears its biggest quarterly win since the third quarter of 2009.
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It’s supposed to be a safe haven for the world’s troubles, yet losing out to the dollar when it comes to Brexit and the U.S.-China trade war is severely costing gold.
Bullion and futures of gold eked out a quarterly gain on Friday as trading for March ended.
But gold’s return to below the key $1,300-an-ounce level cast clouds over an asset regarded as insurance to global economic and political woes. It is still unable to dominate the dollar or hold its own against equities in matters concerning Britain’s EU exit and Beijing-Washington trade negotiations.
Spot gold, reflective of trades in bullion, was at $1,292.24 an ounce by 4:31 PM ET, up 0.2% on the day, down 1.5% for the week, flat for March and up nearly 1% for the quarter.
Gold futures for June delivery, traded on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, settled the official trading session at $1,298.50, also up 0.2% on the day. Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst with OANDA, said:
“If we have a positive outcome from the (U.S.-China) trade talks, gold will be under pressure as investors will rotate out into more risk-seeking assetsn [such as the dollar and equities]. “But, if we have a disappointing outcome, then stocks will go down, and people will move into safe-haven assets like gold. The market is very much in a wait-and-see mode.”
Despite turbulence in equity markets over the last 10 days, the S&P 500 managed to rise about 1.8% during March, while its 13.1% advance is its best quarterly performance since 2009.
The dollar, meanwhile, had its best monthly performance in the last five months, making dollar-denominated gold more expensive for holders of foreign currencies.
Not all are pessimistic about gold’s fortunes, though, with some seeing it even climb to $1,400 eventually. Matthew Tuttle, founder of the $600-million-asset Tuttle Tactical Management fund in Riverside, Conn, said:
“Slowing U.S. economic forces and a Fed turning dovish is a good sign for gold. This puts future interest rate hikes on hold or could even lead to a start of a new cutting cycle in 2020.”
Until recently, real interest rates had risen for about two quarters, Tuttle added, and gold has rallied as well.
“This is a bullish sign and could signal a move beyond $1,400.”
Palladium, which crashed this week to levels close to gold after trading nearly $300 more at one point, jumped almost 9% for the quarter.
The spot price of the silvery-white metal, used for purifying gasoline emissions, was at $1,379.95, up 2.4% in Friday’s trade.
Trades in other Comex metals as of 4:30 PM ET (20:40 GMT):
Platinum futures up 10.05, 1.2%, at $853.85 per ounce.
Silver futures up 13 cents, or 0.9%, at $15.11 per ounce.
Copper futures up 6 cents, or 2.1%, at $2.93 per pound.
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Good job for the quarter, OPEC. Now, will Russia continue playing along with your cuts for the next two?
Crude oil prices notched their best quarterly gains in a decade on Friday, largely on aggressive production cuts by Saudi Arabia, Russia and their allies in the OPEC+ pact.
New York-traded West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $60.14 per barrel, advancing 1.4% for the day and 1.9% for the week. For the Jan. 1 to March 31 period it rose 33%. The last time WTI gained more for a quarter was during Q2 2009, when it rose about 40%.
London-traded Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was at $67.67 per barrel by 2:44 PM ET (18:44 GMT), up almost 1% on the day and week. It rose 26% for the first quarter, also its best gain in 10 years.
OPEC production cuts aside, Friday’s sentiment in oil was also helped by data showing a sixth-straight weekly fall in the U.S. oil rig count to a near-one-year low. Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) showed earlier this week that U.S. oil drillers were under-hedging their production for 2020 despite this year’s rally, explaining their falling rig counts and production of late.
The first quarter rebound in commodity prices and investments could extend to the coming months as the sector gets its traditional boost during the final stages of the global economic cycle, Reuters said in a report on Friday.
Despite that, there are questions on how much longer the rally in oil could continue, with speculation that Russia may not be agreeable to extending OPEC’s production cuts beyond September when the group meets in June.
While the Saudis need oil to be ideally at $80 a barrel and above for their budget, the Russians are said to be content with $55, giving them reason to sell more crude at current prices than restrict exports to get higher prices.
President Donald Trump’s urging this week that OPEC raise production to cool oil prices, which he described as “too high,” may also be also turning the screws on the group, although the Saudis are unlikely to give in to the president as they did a year ago when they turned the spigots on and he signed away generous waivers on Iranian oil sanctions on top of that to flood the market with oil.
Reuters oil columnist John Kemp said in an article on Friday:
“There is a direct contradiction between the president’s electoral strategy, which assumes prices below $70, and Saudi Arabia’s economic and political strategy, which needs prices well above $70.”
Commodity funds that plowed into oil in the first quarter, or were at least enticed by its gains, also seem to be turning somewhat cautious on price prospects for Q2 and Q3.
The transition comes amid growing fears of a U.S. recession and economic slowdown from China to Europe that could offset the bullish picture rising from the combination of OPEC cuts, falling U.S. production and additional squeeze on global supplies from Trump’s sanctions on Iran, as well as Venezuela.
Matthew Tuttle, founder of the $600 million Tuttle Tactical Management fund in Riverside, Conn, said:
“We are slightly bullish on oil, but not enough to own it.”
See also:
- Oil supply cuts to outweigh U.S. shale boom, economic woes (Hellenic Shipping News)
Natural Gas – No report this week
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