Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.11%
U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Industrials and Basic Materials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.11% to hit a new 3-months high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.97%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 1.13%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which rose 4.85% or 6.69 points to trade at 144.49 at the close. Meanwhile, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) added 4.75% or 2.60 points to end at 57.38 and Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW) was up 3.60% or 1.82 points to 52.31 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which fell 1.98% or 1.72 points to trade at 84.94 at the close. McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) declined 1.40% or 2.76 points to end at 193.94 and Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) was down 1.01% or 0.48 points to 47.03.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Qorvo Inc (NASDAQ:QRVO) which rose 20.23% to 97.22, Fortinet Inc (NASDAQ:FTNT) which was up 10.51% to settle at 90.13 and Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA) which gained 9.93% to close at 23.81.
The worst performers were Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) which was down 24.23% to 185.30 in late trade, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (NASDAQ:TTWO) which lost 2.87% to settle at 116.90 and IDEXX Laboratories Inc (NASDAQ:IDXX) which was down 2.86% to 276.87 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Hoth Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:HOTH) which rose 39.00% to 4.74, CHF Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:CHFS) which was up 39.13% to settle at 1.280 and BeiGene Ltd (NASDAQ:BGNE) which gained 37.02% to close at 189.56.
The worst performers were Casa Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CASA) which was down 36.01% to 4.30 in late trade, Hexindai Inc (NASDAQ:HX) which lost 32.67% to settle at 0.67 and MobileIron Inc (NASDAQ:MOBL) which was down 24.36% to 4.735 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2094 to 756 and 84 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1963 rose and 686 declined, while 60 ended unchanged.
Shares in Qorvo Inc (NASDAQ:QRVO) rose to 5-year highs; up 20.23% or 16.36 to 97.22. Shares in Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) fell to 52-week lows; falling 24.23% or 59.27 to 185.30. Shares in Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 4.85% or 6.69 to 144.49. Shares in Casa Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CASA) fell to all time lows; down 36.01% or 2.42 to 4.30. Shares in Hexindai Inc (NASDAQ:HX) fell to all time lows; losing 32.67% or 0.32 to 0.67. Shares in BeiGene Ltd (NASDAQ:BGNE) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 37.02% or 51.22 to 189.56.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 6.96% to 12.30 a new 3-months low.
Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.12% or 1.85 to $1516.65 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 3.67% or 1.99 to hit $56.17 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 3.37% or 2.01 to trade at $61.63 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.15% to 1.1167, while USD/JPY rose 0.15% to 108.19.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.14% at 97.018.
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The dollar fell to its lowest in some 10 days in early trading in Europe amid hopes that the world economy may be bottoming out.
Those hopes rested largely on a Chinese business survey by Caixin/IHS Markit, which showed the strongest improvement in operating conditions for Chinese manufacturers since February 2017. Output and new orders both expanded at steeper rates, with the latter supported by a renewed increase in export business.
That contrasted sharply with a more gloomy reading from the state-compiled PMI earlier in the week, which showed continued weakness.
Other purchasing manager indexes from around Asia showed the world’s manufacturing continuing to struggle, with Indonesia’s falling to a four-year low, Taiwan’s slipping into contraction territory and South Korea’s staying in negative territory despite a modest increase.
Japan’s showed manufacturing output falling for a 10th straight month. Even so, the yen strengthened to a three-week high of 107.95 against the dollar by 4:30 AM ET (0830 GMT).
Among European currencies, EUR/USD and GBP/USD both benefited from dollar weakness ahead of what is expected to be a complicated set of U.S. labor market numbers at 8:30 AM ET. The headline nonfarm payrolls growth number is expected to fall to 89,000, due largely to the impact of the strike at General Motors (NYSE:GM). That will put more focus than usual on wage developments, where average hourly earnings and hours worked are expected to stay unchanged from September.
By 4:30 AM ET, the dollar index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of developed market currencies, was down 0.1% at 97.037, on course for a 0.6% drop on the week. Sterling was up 0.2% at $1.2966 while the euro was up 0.1% at $1.1157. Analysts at ING said in a morning note.
“In the coming weeks however, with a majority (election) win for the Conservatives priced in and less room for a short-squeezing effect, the upside for sterling appears quite limited.”
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Stellar U.S. jobs growth for October and high-level progress apparently in China-U.S. trade talks whetted investors’ appetite for risk on Friday and weakened their inclination to hold safe havens. Yet gold held to its $1,500 perch, proving few were willing to abandon the yellow metal.
Gold futures for December delivery on COMEX settled down $3.40, or 0.2%, at $1,511.40 per ounce. It rose 1.2% in the previous session on reports of renewed troubles in U.S.-China negotiations. But it was back in the green lane in post-settlement trade, rising a modest 15 cents to $1,514.95 by 2:45 PM ET (18:45 GMT).
Spot gold, which tracks live trades in bullion, was up 8 cents at $1,512.70.
Gold’s resilience above the $1,500 level surprised some market participants who had expected the yellow metal to tumble sharply after the Federal Reserve all but indicated an end to further rate cuts after Wednesday’s third 25-basis-point reduction since July.
TD Securities, however, said in a note that many investors still needed a hedge against stock market risks and the potential for rate cuts continuing in 2020:
“It is likely the majority of investors have opted to hold onto their precious metal exposure as increased data dependency and persistent inflation weakness leaves the door open for further cuts into 2020. As the outlook becomes more data dependent moving forward, we expect the yellow metal to be fairly volatile on either side of $1,500/oz, until a trend of weaker data sparks further cuts in 2020.”
Gold prices initially dipped after the U.S. Labor Department reported that nonfarm payrolls rose by 128,000 in October, compared with expectations for a rise of 89,000 according to forecasts compiled by Investing.com. September’s hiring was revised up to 180,000 from an initially-reported 136,000.
Wall Street’s S&P 500 index hit record intraday and closing highs on the jobs report, tamping down the play in safe havens .
The risk rally was also heightened later by a government statement out of China that Beijing had reached consensus with the U.S. in principle on issues related to a trade deal the two sides were negotiating.
China’s Vice Premier Liu He had a phone call with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Friday where the two sides conducted “serious and constructive” discussions on “core” trade points, while discussing arrangements on the next consultation, the statement said.
For the week, the December gold contract was up 0.5%.
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Oil prices surged almost 3% on Friday on stellar U.S. jobs growth for October and a report that China has reached a consensus with the White House on core concerns in their trade war.
The rally came despite suggestions by some analysts that increases in production from the U.S. and OPEC may have offset the upside potential for oil prices.
West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark for New York-traded crude, settled up $2.02, or 3.7%, at $56.20 per barrel.
Brent, the London-traded global gauge for oil, closed the regular U.S. trading session up $2.07, or 3.5%, at $61.69.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 128,000, compared with expectations for a rise of 89,000 according to forecasts compiled by Investing.com. September’s hiring was revised up to 180,000 from an initially-reported 136,000.
Wall Street’s S&P 500 hit record highs on the jobs report, adding to the bullish fervor across markets, including oil.
The rally was heightened by media reports out of Beijing that China had reached consensus with the U.S. in principle on issues related to a trade deal the two sides were negotiating.
China’s Vice Premier Liu He had a phone call with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Friday where the two sides conducted “serious and constructive” discussions on “core” trade points. They also talked about arrangements on the next consultation, CNBC said in a Beijing-datelined report.
John Kilduff, founding partner at New Yorks energy hedge fund Again Capital, said:
“I guess the fact that the announcement came out of China has given the story more credibility than it might have had it been a White House announcement. But a 3% rally, if you ask me, seems a little generous under the circumstances, even with the jobs numbers we’ve had. So, it’s very likely that we’ll give back some of these on Monday as the US-China deal is not a done deal yet, regardless what both sides want you to believe.”
U.S. oil production surged by almost 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August, government data published Thursday showed, hitting a record of 12.4 million. The increase was largely due to a 30% surge in Gulf of Mexico output.
Meanwhile, a Reuters survey on OPEC production showed production rose by 690,000 bpd in October. That brought the Middle East-dominated group’s total supply back up to 29.59 million bpd. Stephen Brennock, oil analyst at PVM Oil Associates, said in a research note published Friday:
“This latest ramp up in OPEC and U.S. supply extinguished any remaining pockets of upside potential.”
See also:
- Oil Prices Gain, Rebounding from Concerns of Rising Stockpiles, Trade Tensions
- Oil Inventory Confusion (Oilprice.com)
Natural Gas (No report this week)
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