Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.42%
U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Industrials, Telecoms and Technology sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.42% to hit a new 6-months high, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.16%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.02%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 2.26% or 4.91 points to trade at 221.75 at the close. Meanwhile, The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) added 2.25% or 3.06 points to end at 138.93 and McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) was up 1.72% or 3.30 points to 194.91 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE), which fell 1.25% or 0.50 points to trade at 39.38 at the close. Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) declined 0.99% or 0.73 points to end at 73.19 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) was down 0.96% or 1.99 points to 205.91.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were United Rentals Inc (NYSE:URI) which rose 8.14% to 136.00, Snap-On Inc (NYSE:SNA) which was up 6.48% to settle at 168.07 and Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) which gained 4.36% to close at 176.66.
The worst performers were Genuine Parts Co (NYSE:GPC) which was down 6.33% to 105.45 in late trade, Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) which lost 4.90% to settle at 2.910 and Mattel Inc (NASDAQ:MAT) which was down 4.36% to 12.49 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Mustang Bio Inc (NASDAQ:MBIO) which rose 112.03% to 5.64, Checkpoint Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CKPT) which was up 20.73% to settle at 3.32 and Novan Inc(NASDAQ:NOVN) which gained 20.46% to close at 0.78.
The worst performers were Kona Grill Inc (NASDAQ:KONA) which was down 44.44% to 0.30 in late trade, StoneCo Ltd (NASDAQ:STNE) which lost 23.69% to settle at 26.51 and Ideal Power Inc (NASDAQ:IPWR) which was down 23.26% to 0.630 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 138 to 127 and 17 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 0 fell and 0 advanced.
Shares in Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) rose to all time highs; rising 4.36% or 7.38 to 176.66. Shares in The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 2.25% or 3.06 to 138.93. Shares in McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) rose to all time highs; gaining 1.72% or 3.30 to 194.91. Shares in Kona Grill Inc (NASDAQ:KONA) fell to all time lows; down 44.44% or 0.24 to 0.30.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was unchanged 0.00% to 12.09.
Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.01% or 0.01 to $1277.90 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 0.38% or 0.24 to hit $64.00 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 0.04% or 0.03 to trade at $71.95 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.15% to 1.1245, while USD/JPY fell 0.04% to 111.92.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.49% at 97.132.
See also:
Canada stocks higher at close of trade; S&P/TSX Composite up 0.41%
U.K. stocks lower at close of trade; Investing.com United Kingdom 100 down 0.02%
The U.S dollar jumped against its rivals on Thursday as mostly upbeat economic data pointed to strength in the underlying economy.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose by 0.50% to 97.14.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday that initial jobless claims dropped by 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 192,000 for the week ended April 14, beating economists’ forecast for a rise to 205,000.
The Philadelphia Fed said Thursday its manufacturing index slowed to a reading of 8.5 in April, from 13.4 in last month.
But the Commerce Department said retail sales fell 1.6% last month. That exceeded economists’ forecast for a 0.9 % rise. The retail sales control group – which has a larger impact on U.S. GDP – added 1%, well above expectation for a 0.4% increase.
The retail sales report showed the biggest headline gain since 2017 and comes after “lots of distortions in recent months, including weather, sluggish tax refunds, the government shutdown, and now a late Easter,” Action Economics said.
A sharp drop in the euro also supported the dollar. Concerns that the eurozone economy is slowing were strengthened in after weaker-than-expected manufacturing reports from Germany and France.
EUR/USD fell 0.57% to $1.1230.
GBP/USD lost 0.42% to $1.2988, shrugging off better-than-expected U.K. retail sales data amid fears that U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn are unlikely to reach a consensus a Brexit deal.
USD/JPY fell 0.10% to Y111.94, while USD/CAD rose 0.30% to C$1.3378.
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Scattered weak spots in the global economy are helping gold fetch a bid. But getting the yellow metal out of the $1,200 hole will require a lot more risk aversion.
Bullion and gold futures advanced slightly from four-month lows Thursday as anemic manufacturing numbers out of Europe renewed worries about growth in the world’s largest economic bloc. But the dollar, strengthened by resurgent U.S. retail sales, capped gold’s gain, reflecting the precious metal’s challenge in recapturing its $1,300 perch.
Spot gold, reflective of trades in bullion, was up 20 cents at $1,274.24 per ounce by 2:15 PM ET (18:15 GMT).
Gold futures for June delivery, traded on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, settled the official session down 80 cents, or 0.1%, at $1,276 per ounce.
Thursday’s market also saw crimped activity ahead of the Good Friday holiday. George Gero, precious metals analyst at RBC Wealth Management in New York, said:
“This is a holiday-shortened week with limited audiences, so the news of lesser inflation and weak manufacturing in the euro zone was balanced out by equally positive U.S. data.”
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.5% to 97.127.
The outlook for gold is clouded.
After its slide this week to $1,250 levels, some see a break below $1,200. Others, like London-based Capital Economics, predict $1,400 before the end of 2019, saying risk aversion will return to global markets and spur safe-haven demand in North American and European gold ETFs.
Palladium rose for a second-straight day, reclaiming its $1,400 perch. Spot palladium was up $25.80, or 1.8%, at $1,421.35 an ounce.
Trades in other Comex metals as of 2:15 PM ET (18:15 GMT):
Palladium futures up $27.55, or 2%, at $1,406.15 per ounce.
Platinum futures up $12.80, or 1.4%, at $904.10 per ounce.
Silver futures up 1.4 cents, or 0.1%, at $14.95 per ounce.
Copper futures down 4.6 cents, or 1.6%, at $2.92 per pound.
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The guessing game begins. With exactly two weeks to the expiration of the U.S. sanction waivers on Iran, oil bulls are holding tight to see which way President Donald Trump will lean.
Most of Thursday’s action in crude was as exciting as watching paint dry before the market finally mustered a higher close. Many market participants already away for the Good Friday break. Those remaining did little more than move the West Texas Intermediate and Brent benchmarks by a few cents, musing on whether Saudi Arabia will announce a suspension or ease in production cuts before the May 2 decision on Iran.
New York-traded WTI settled up 24 cents, or 0.4%, at 64 per barrel.
London-tradedBrent rose by 38 cents, or 0.5%, to $72 by 2:43 PM ET.
For the week, WTI was up 0.8% while Brent rose 1.7%. Year to date, the U.S. benchmark showed a gain of 41% against a 34% rise for its U.K. peer. Phil Flynn, senior energy analyst at the Price Futures Group in Chicago, said:
“The oil trade is still looking for a sign from the Trump administration as to whether they will look to extend waivers to buyers of Iranian oil. Will he, or won’t he?”
Analysts say the more the concessions the Saudis make on production cuts, the less inclined Trump will be to give waivers to importers of Iranian oil.
Riyadh and Washington have a decades-long history of cooperating in curbing Iran’s rise as a Middle East power. They also have other motivations for acting against Tehran.
For the Saudis, it is decades of enmity with a country that ironically counts as one of the most important members of OPEC.
For Trump, it will be an extension of his mission to punish the Rouhani regime, which he accuses of terror and of getting an undeserved deal from President Barack Obama to export its oil in return for what he deemed soft curbs on its nuclear program.
While Trump has kept up with his anti-Iran rhetoric in his 2-1/2 years in office, he is also aware that wiping out Tehran’s oil from the market will only exacerbate a supply shortage caused by sanctions that Washington also has on Venezuelan oi, and production outages in Libya brought on by a civil war.
Running contrary to Iran’s sanctions game is also Trump’s need to keep U.S. gas prices low. Pump prices of gasoline nationally have risen by around 25% this year to around $2.84 a gallon, according AAA. The average price of gasoline is more than $4 a gallon in California.
See also:
- Prepare For An Oil Price Spike (Oilprice.com)
No report this week.
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