Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.46%
U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Oil & Gas, Consumer Services and Basic Materials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.46%, while the S&P 500 index lost 0.29%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.27%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE), which rose 1.54% or 0.60 points to trade at 39.49 at the close. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) added 0.34% or 0.19 points to end at 55.53 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was up 0.31% or 0.91 points to 295.13 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), which fell 1.91% or 6.42 points to trade at 329.92 at the close. The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) declined 1.53% or 2.11 points to end at 135.51 and Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW) was down 1.32% or 0.69 points to 51.50.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) which rose 24.69% to 26.92, Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) which was up 3.52% to settle at 59.72 and Tyson Foods Inc (NYSE:TSN) which gained 3.04% to close at 91.92.
The worst performers were Harley-Davidson Inc (NYSE:HOG) which was down 3.92% to 34.84 in late trade, IPG Photonics Corporation (NASDAQ:IPGP) which lost 3.13% to settle at 135.27 and Arconic Inc (NYSE:ARNC) which was down 3.09% to 28.85 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were CounterPath Corp (NASDAQ:CPAH) which rose 296.00% to 3.920, Origin Agritech Ltd (NASDAQ:SEED) which was up 44.63% to settle at 10.240 and China SXT Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SXTC) which gained 42.46% to close at 1.0700.
The worst performers were Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:PTLA) which was down 40.34% to 14.76 in late trade, Energy Focu (NASDAQ:EFOI) which lost 37.31% to settle at 0.58 and RumbleON Inc (NASDAQ:RMBL) which was down 26.03% to 0.60 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1523 to 1281 and 99 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1547 fell and 1113 advanced, while 61 ended unchanged.
Shares in CounterPath Corp (NASDAQ:CPAH) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 296.00% or 2.930 to 3.920. Shares in Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:PTLA) fell to all time lows; down 40.34% or 9.98 to 14.76. Shares in Origin Agritech Ltd (NASDAQ:SEED) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 44.63% or 3.160 to 10.240. Shares in RumbleON Inc (NASDAQ:RMBL) fell to 3-years lows; losing 26.03% or 0.21 to 0.60.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 0.16% to 12.56.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.57% or 8.90 to $1563.20 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.74% or 0.44 to hit $59.12 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.46% or 0.30 to trade at $65.07 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.14% to 1.1121, while USD/JPY fell 0.03% to 109.47.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.09% at 97.075.
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The U.S. dollar was flat on Friday as data showing the U.S. economy created fewer-than-expected jobs in December did little to suggest the Federal Reserve needs to move off the sidelines.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the green against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.07% to 97.09.
The U.S. created 145,000 jobs last month, undershooting economists’ forecast of 164,000.
The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.5%, but wage growth slowed to a pace of 0.1% last month, missing expectations of 0.3%.
Following the weaker-than-expected jobs report, BMO said there was little reason for the Fed to move from the sidelines as the trend of steady job growth, low joblessness and still-subdued wage inflation continued.
GBP/USD and EUR/USD, meanwhile, were also largely flat falling, 0.07% and rising 0.13% respectively.
Cable took a drubbing earlier this week and remains under pressure after Bank of England hinted at more monetary stimulus. ING said in a note:
“We estimate that a Bank of England-prompted 50-basis-point widening in the one-year/one-year rate differential might knock 180 pips off cable.”
USD/CAD was unchanged at C$1.305 as a firmer jobs report from Canada eased concerns about the labor market following November’s, underpinning the loonie.
The Canada jobs report trimmed expectations that the Bank of Canada will cut this year, but RBC said it believes the central bank will still be forced to act to support the economy:
“These were the jobs numbers we were all hoping for following November’s ugly employment report. But these numbers on their own won’t necessarily keep the Bank of Canada on the sidelines.”
See also:
- Forex: Dollar Inches Higher as Focus Shifts to U.S-China Trade Deal
- Forex – USD stays strong ahead of signing of trade deal
- Dollar set for best weekly gain in two months on ‘galvanizing’ forces (Reuters)
So long as Wall Street hits record highs investors can expect gold to show some resilience.
8830|Gold futures}} for February delivery on New York’s COMEX settled up $5.80, or 0.4%, at $1,560.10 per ounce.
Spot gold, which tracks live trades in bullion, was up $6.11, or 0.4%, at $1,558.34 by 2:30 PM ET (19:30 GMT).
Gold rallied as the three major U.S. indexes hit record highs in early trading – with the Dow topping 29,000 for the first time – and managed to hold onto those gains into settlement.
The yellow metal got some support later in the day as bond prices firmed on weaker-than-expected December payroll growth. That pushed interest lower, making non-yielding gold more attractive.
While gold typically takes the opposite route to stocks, since last year the correlation appears to have changed as investors seek insurance against the possibility of a sudden reversal on Wall Street after a streak of record highs in stocks since the start of the fourth quarter.
Spot gold closed last year up 18% while gold futures gained 16%. Both are up almost 3% since the start of 2020.
“Gold continues its new higher trading range along with better stocks and dollar firmness,” said George Gero, precious metals analyst at RBC Wealth Management in New York. “As we see, you can’t count out gold with higher stocks and a firm dollar.”
The dollar index, another normally contrarian trade to gold, hit a one-week high of 97.303 on Friday before turning flat at 97.07.
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Oil prices continued to fall on Friday in Asia and were set to record their first weekly loss since November as U.S.-Iran conflict cooled.
U.S. Crude Oil WTI Futures dropped 0.2% to $59.48 by 12:50 AM ET (04:50 GMT), while International Brent Oil Futures slipped 0.1% to $65.32.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted overnight to curb U.S. President Donald Trump’s power to strike Iran. Meanwhile, in comments to Fox News, Vice President Mike Pence said the Islamic Republic has asked militias in the Middle East not to carry out attacks against U.S. interests.
The easing of the U.S.-Iran tensions reduced concerns of a potential supply disruption in the Middle East, and were cited as the catalyst of selling in oil prices in the past two days.
On the Sino-U.S. trade front, China’s Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng confirmed that Vice Premier Liu He will travel to Washington between Jan. 13 and 15 to sign a phase one trade deal.
He said he has no more information to release about the trade talks, other than that the teams remain in close contact.
Trump previous said that the deal will be signed at the White House on Jan. 15. Under the accord, which was announced in December, the U.S. halted plans for new tariffs on Chinese imports and reduced some existing levies, while Beijing agreed to increase agricultural purchases.
The positive trade news failed to lift oil prices today however, as they were largely overshadowed by improving situation in the Middle East.
See also:
- U.S. Crude Has Biggest Weekly Loss in 6 Months as Supply Worries Return
- Oil Struggles to Restart Rally as U.S.-Iran Conflict Cools
Natural Gas (No report this week.)
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