Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks mixed at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.09%
U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Friday, as gains in the Utilities, Financials and Technology sectors led shares higher while losses in the Oil & Gas, Consumer Services and Telecoms sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.09%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.18%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.20%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:V), which rose 1.39% or 2.89 points to trade at 210.29 at the close. Meanwhile, Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) added 1.10% or 2.67 points to end at 245.03 and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) was up 1.05% or 1.41 points to 135.87 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), which fell 2.34% or 3.61 points to trade at 150.70 at the close. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) declined 1.34% or 0.72 points to end at 52.85 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) was down 1.24% or 1.73 points to 137.99.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE) which rose 11.04% to 122.80, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) which was up 7.02% to settle at 289.79 and Mohawk Industries Inc (NYSE:MHK) which gained 4.03% to close at 137.98.
The worst performers were IPG Photonics Corporation (NASDAQ:IPGP) which was down 6.99% to 139.49 in late trade, Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) which lost 5.95% to settle at 223.47 and American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) which was down 4.81% to 48.48 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Summer Infant Inc (NASDAQ:SUMR) which rose 269.55% to 1.0000, Genprex Inc (NASDAQ:GNPX) which was up 56.20% to settle at 4.2800 and BioXcel Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:BTAI) which gained 55.01% to close at 36.97.
The worst performers were Pulse Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:PLSE) which was down 29.80% to 8.55 in late trade, CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) which lost 26.54% to settle at 25.05 and LivePerson Inc (NASDAQ:LPSN) which was down 24.50% to 33.96 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1400 to 1384 and 93 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1507 fell and 1120 advanced, while 83 ended unchanged.
Shares in NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) rose to all time highs; rising 7.02% or 19.01 to 289.79. Shares in Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:V) rose to all time highs; up 1.39% or 2.89 to 210.29. Shares in Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) rose to all time highs; gaining 1.10% or 2.67 to 245.03. Shares in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) rose to all time highs; rising 1.05% or 1.41 to 135.87. Shares in Pulse Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:PLSE) fell to 3-years lows; falling 29.80% or 3.63 to 8.55. Shares in Genprex Inc (NASDAQ:GNPX) rose to 52-week highs; rising 56.20% or 1.5400 to 4.2800. Shares in CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) fell to all time lows; losing 26.54% or 9.05 to 25.05. Shares in BioXcel Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:BTAI) rose to all time highs; rising 55.01% or 13.12 to 36.97.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.32% to 13.68.
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.51% or 8.05 to $1586.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 1.58% or 0.81 to hit $52.23 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 1.76% or 0.99 to trade at $57.33 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.08% to 1.0831, while USD/JPY fell 0.03% to 109.78.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.08% at 99.037.
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The U.S. dollar edged higher Thursday, supported by firmer U.S. inflation data, but a rise in the pound and yen kept gains in check.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.06% to 98.98.
The Labor Department said on Thursday its consumer price index rose 0.2%, in line with expectations last month, while the year-on-year CPI rose to 2.5%, topping forecasts for a 2.3% rise.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has signaled that a faster pace of inflation would push the central bank off the sidelines. But this latest inflation report is unlikely to shift the Fed’s thinking on monetary policy as its preferred inflation gauge, the core personal consumption expenditures price index, remains below the 2% target.
High Frequency Economics said:
“Today’s data should not impact the Fed’s on-hold policy stance.”
A surge in the pound, meanwhile, kept the dollar in check on rising hopes Prime Minister Boris Johnson is eyeing fiscal stimulus after showing U.K. finance minister Sajid Javid the door.
Javid reportedly resigned after Johnson asked him to fire his closest advisers in order to keep his position, the Financial Times reported.
GBP/USD rose 0.70% to $1.3051.
EUR/USD fell 0.28% to $1.0841, and analysts are calling for a further decline as the sluggish pace of growth in the EU continues. Danske said:
“The euro area remains a region of low growth, accompanied by weak inflation dynamics and our baseline is for a continued relative underperformance of European financial assets.”
USD/JPY fell 0.23% to Y109.83 as a rebound in safe-haven demand underpinned the yen following a surge in coronavirus deaths and infections in China overnight
USD/CAD climbed 0.05% to C$1.3255 as the loonie remained supported by hopes that OPEC and Russia will act to steady oil prices amid worries about a Covid-19 hit to Chinese oil demand.
See also:
- Forex – Euro Slumps Against the Dollar; Weak Eurozone Growth
- Forex – Safe-Haven Yen Little Changed as Equities Steady
- Forex – Sterling Climbs After Javid Ousted as Chancellor
Confusion over China’s accounting of the Covid-19 helped gold post its seventh weekly gain in eight and return to the $1,580 perch critical to those long the yellow metal.
But guessing the market’s near-term direction remains difficult for investors due to the sheer uncertainty of the epidemic and alternative safe-haven choice offered by the dollar.
Gold futures for April delivery on New York’s COMEX settled Friday’s trade up $7.60, or nearly 1%, at $1586.40 per ounce. It also gained 1% on the week.
Spot gold, which tracks live trades in bullion was up $6.29, or 0.4%, at $1,582.38 by 3:30 PM ET (20:30 GMT).
George Gero, precious-metals analyst at RBC Wealth Management in New York, said:
“The dollar index and headlines on U.S. politics, interest-rate changes and the stock market have added to the coronavirus news, resulting in gold’s see-saw this week. But don’t count out gold as it’s serving well as a hedge to the Covid-19 despite the dollar’s strength.”
The dollar index, which pits the greenback against a basket of six currencies, showed a reading of 99, up 0.4% on the week.
Confusion reigned over the spread of Covid-19 after Chinese authorities took over 100 presumed victims off the official death roll on Friday, saying they had double-counted.
The overall death toll still rose by over 100 to 1,383, while officially confirmed cases in China rose by some 5,000 to over 64,000. That’s a big drop from the 15,000 increase reported on Thursday, which was due to changes in China’s methodology for classifying confirmed cases.
Also on Friday, China’s National Health Commission said 1,716 health workers had contracted the virus, and six of them had died – the first time it had broken out such numbers.
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Buying by small Chinese refineries, bets that Russia will submit to OPEC and optimism that global oil demand won’t totally cave on the virus outbreak have combined to give crude its first weekly gain in six.
London’s Brent crude rose more than 5% on the week while New York-traded West Texas Texas Intermediate showed a gain of over 3% after both rose four days in a row.
Brent, the global benchmark for crude, settled at $57.32 per barrel, up 98 cents, or 1.7%. For the week, it rose 5.2%.
WTI, the U.S. crude benchmark, settled at $52.05, up 63 cents, or 1.2%. It rose 3.4% on the week.
Friday’s gains came amid reports that China’s smaller, independent refineries – known as teapots – were back to buying some crude amid the perceived crash in Chinese energy consumption from the Covid-19 outbreak.
Among the independent refiners, Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical Co. snapped up as many as seven cargoes from Russia, Angola and Gabon for March and April, while Sinochem Hongrun Petrochemical Co. bought a shipment from Gabon, Bloomberg reported.
Scott Shelton, energy futures broker at ICAP in Durham, N.C., said:
“While crude run rates continue to drop in China with teapot rates under 50%, it makes me wonder if the refiners there are just catching up on their buying or getting long.”
Also propping the market was speculation that Russia will agree in the end to contribute to OPEC’s proposed cut of 600,000 barrels per day or more to lift prices. President Vladimir Putin has kept the market guessing for a week now on how he will decide on the OPEC plan amid resistance from Russian industry, which argues that the cuts by Moscow will result in lost market share that will go to U.S. producers.
Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, said in a note:
“We see this as largely in keeping with past practice and that Putin will once again overrule his energy executives at the 11th hour and sign on the dotted line when the ministers meet on March 5 – though this public hand-wringing may be effectively deployed in the negotiations to reduce Russia’s overall output obligations.”
There was also debate on whether global demand for energy may still survive the worst from the epidemic that has killed nearly 1,400 people and infected almost 64,500, mostly in China.
The debate has been fueled by differences in the impact on global demand from the Covid-19 projected by the International Energy Agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration and OPEC. The disparity in their numbers shows that none of the three has a definitive read on the impact, a situation taken positively by oil bulls.
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Natural Gas (Hellenic Shipping News)
This winter, natural gas prices have been at their lowest levels in decades. On Monday, February 10, the near-month natural gas futures price at the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) closed at $1.77 per million British thermal units (MMBtu). This price was the lowest February closing price for the near-month contract since at least 2001, in real terms, and the lowest near-month futures price in any month since March 8, 2016, according to Bloomberg, L.P. and FRED data.
In addition, according to Natural Gas Intelligence data, the daily spot price at the Henry Hub national benchmark was $1.81/MMBtu on February 10, 2020, the lowest price in real terms since March 9, 2016. Henry Hub spot prices have ranged between $1.81/MMBtu and $2.84/MMBtu this winter heating season (since November 1, 2019), generally because relatively warm winter weather has reduced demand for natural gas for heating. Natural gas production growth has outpaced demand growth, reducing the need to withdraw natural gas from underground storage.
Dry natural gas production in January 2020 averaged about 95.0 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), according to IHS Markit data. IHS Markit also estimates that in January 2020 the United States saw the third-highest monthly U.S. natural gas production on record, down slightly from the previous two months.
IHS Markit estimates that U.S. natural gas consumption by residential, commercial, industrial, and electric power sectors averaged 96 Bcf/d for January, which was about 4.4 Bcf/d less than the average for January 2019, largely because of decreases in residential and commercial consumption as a result of warmer temperatures.
However, IHS Markit estimates that overall consumption of natural gas (including feed gas to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities, pipeline fuel losses, and net exports by pipeline to Mexico) averaged about 117.5 Bcf/d in January 2020, an increase of about 0.2 Bcf/d from last year. This overall increase is largely a result of an almost doubling of LNG feed gas to about 8.5 Bcf/d.
Because supply growth has outpaced demand growth, less natural gas has been withdrawn from storage withdrawals this winter. Despite starting the 2019 – 20 heating season with the third-lowest level of natural gas inventory since 2009, by January 17, 2020, working natural gas inventories reached relatively high levels for mid-winter. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) data on natural gas inventories for the Lower 48 states as of February 7, 2020, reflect a 215 Bcf surplus to the five-year average. In EIA’s latest short-term forecast, more natural gas remains in storage levels than the previous five-year average through the remainder of the winter.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report and Short-Term Energy Outlook
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), January 2020 was the fifth-warmest in its 126-year climate record. Heating degree days (HDDs), a temperature-based metric for heating demand, have been relatively low this winter, which is consistent with a warmer winter. During some weeks in late December and early January, the United States saw 25% to 30% fewer HDDs than the 30-year average. This winter, through February 8, residential natural gas customers in the United States have seen 11% fewer HDDs than the 30-year average.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Climate Prediction Center data
Source: EIA
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