Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks mixed at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.07%
U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Friday, as gains in the Technology, Healthcare and Telecoms sectors led shares higher while losses in the Financials, Oil & Gas and Industrials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.07%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.48%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 1.29%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO), which rose 4.88% or 2.23 points to trade at 47.82 at the close. Meanwhile, Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) added 2.98% or 1.66 points to end at 57.38 and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) was up 2.65% or 1.11 points to 42.94 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Raytheon Technologies Corp (NYSE:RTX), which fell 4.09% or 2.75 points to trade at 64.52 at the close. American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) declined 3.05% or 2.99 points to end at 95.07 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was down 2.65% or 3.97 points to 145.85.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were NortonLifeLock Inc (NASDAQ:NLOK) which rose 8.79% to 22.78, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN) which was up 5.98% to settle at 612.81 and Arconic Inc (NYSE:ARNC) which gained 5.39% to close at 14.47.
The worst performers were DXC Technology Co (NYSE:DXC) which was down 14.24% to 14.21 in late trade, Coty Inc (NYSE:COTY) which lost 13.37% to settle at 3.63 and Nordstrom Inc (NYSE:JWN) which was down 10.98% to 16.13 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Adaptimmune Therapeutics Plc (NASDAQ:ADAP) which rose 127.78% to 11.07, Sonoma Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SNOA) which was up 79.30% to settle at 9.70 and Esports Entertainment Group Inc (NASDAQ:GMBL) which gained 62.73% to close at 8.82.
The worst performers were Minerva Neurosciences Inc (NASDAQ:NERV) which was down 72.46% to 3.71 in late trade, Akorn Inc (NASDAQ:AKRX) which lost 51.01% to settle at 0.090 and ARCA Biopharma Inc (NASDAQ:ABIO) which was down 34.41% to 12.60 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1541 to 1334 and 56 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1393 fell and 1266 advanced, while 65 ended unchanged.
Shares in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN) rose to all time highs; rising 5.98% or 34.60 to 612.81. Shares in Adaptimmune Therapeutics Plc (NASDAQ:ADAP) rose to 52-week highs; rising 127.78% or 6.21 to 11.07. Shares in Minerva Neurosciences Inc (NASDAQ:NERV) fell to 3-years lows; falling 72.46% or 9.76 to 3.71. Shares in Sonoma Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SNOA) rose to 52-week highs; up 79.30% or 4.29 to 9.70. Shares in Akorn Inc (NASDAQ:AKRX) fell to all time lows; down 51.01% or 0.094 to 0.090. Shares in Esports Entertainment Group Inc (NASDAQ:GMBL) rose to all time highs; gaining 62.73% or 3.40 to 8.82.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.78% to 27.51 a new 3-months low.
Gold Futures for June delivery was up 1.07% or 18.30 to $1731.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 4.84% or 1.63 to hit $35.34 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 4.72% or 1.70 to trade at $37.73 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.25% to 1.1104, while USD/JPY rose 0.18% to 107.83.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.10% at 98.275.
See also:
Stocks – Wall Street Slips as U.S. Consumer Wobbles; Trump’s China Speech Eyed
Stocks – Wall Street Falls at Open on Profit-Taking; Trump China Briefing Eyed
The dollar edged lower in early European trade Friday, but trading ranges have been tight as traders attempt to weigh up the conflicting forces of a continued economic recovery with heightened tensions over China’s move to tighten control over Hong Kong.
At 2:55 AM ET (0655 GMT), the U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, stood at 98.293, down 0.1%, while USD/JPY fell 0.4% to 107.18 and GBP/USD rose 0.2% at 1.2344.
German retail sales fell at their fastest pace since 2007 in April, data showed on Friday, but the drop – at 5.3% on the month – was not as steep as expected in a sign of the relative resilience of Europe’s largest economy during the coronavirus crisis. March’s figures were also revised to reflect a gentler decline.
While in the U.S., Thursday’s initial jobless claims data showed that more than two million Americans filed for unemployment benefits for the first time last week. This is another horrendous figure, but the weekly totals have continued to fall since hitting a peak of 6.8 million in late March.
Minori Uchida, head of global market research at MUFG Bank in Tokyo, said:
“At the moment, hopes for economic recovery are strong, but I expect this to gradually fade to increased concern about the U.S.-China relationship. When that happens, there will be more risk-off trades, which supports buying of both the dollar and the yen.”
At the moment the foreign exchange markets are holding their breath ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s statement in response to China parliament’s passing of an anti-sedition law relating to Hong Kong. Analysts at Danske Bank said in a research note to clients:
“The question is how far Trump will go at today’s press conference, as removing Hong Kong’s favored status would probably spark negative market developments, hitting global risk sentiment.”
At 2:55 AM ET, USD/CNY traded at 7.1515, not far off the record of 7.1966 reached on Thursday.
The euro has continued to strengthen Friday, driven by increased confidence in the global economy but also by EU institutions starting to agree that an accommodative stance is indeed needed, especially in terms of fiscal policy. Analysts at Barclays (LON:BARC) said in a research note:
“We see the latest European Commission proposals for an increase in the EU Budget and a recovery fund of €750bn as a potential game changer.”
At 02:55 AM ET, EUR/USD traded at $1.1098, up 0.2%, having earlier broken through the $1.11 level for the first time since late March.
See also:
- Forex – Euro Buoyed by Recovery Fund Plan
- Dollar Up Alongside Rising U.S.-China Tensions
- EUR/USD Flat in Wild Trading as EU Proposes €750B Covid-19 Stimulus Package
Gold prices finished a month above $1,700 an ounce for the first time in nearly 8 years on Friday, and also higher for a third straight month, as renewed U.S. tensions with China sent risk-averse buyers steadily toward the safe-haven.
Remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell that full U.S. economic recovery from the Covid-19 could not be attained until people felt confidence to resume living like before the pandemic also helped boost gold prices on Friday.
Ed Moya, analyst at online trading platform OANDA, said:
“Gold has everything going for it except strong physical demand. Gold should remain supported in the short-term as central bank buying is strong, prospects for further global stimulus seems very likely, and as friction remains high between the world’s two largest economies.”
U.S. gold futures for June settled up $23.60, or 1.4%, at $1,736.90 per ounce. It was the first settlement above $1,700 for gold futures since November 2012. For all of May, gold futures rose just shy of $43, or 2.5%, for its third straight monthly gain.
Spot gold, which tracks real-time trades in bullion, was up $13.82, or 0.8%, at $1,733.04 by 3:45 PM ET (19:45 GMT).
President Donald Trump, who spent most of May trying to blame China for the global spread of the Covid-19, said on Friday The United States is rescinding a number of special considerations for Hong Kong in retaliation against Beijing’s move to pass new security laws against the South Chinese island territory.
See also:
- Gold Picks up as Caution Returns After Heady Week
- Gold Up as U.S.-Chinese Tensions Rise Over Hong Kong National Security Law
- Gold Back Under $1,750 as Data Show Flattening of the U.S. Job Loss Curve
Oil posted its best month ever as crude prices delivered gains of nearly 100% for May after rebounding from their lowest levels in history. The challenge will be building on those gains as producers, enticed by higher prices now, slow down on output cuts that triggered the rebound.
The latest survey of oil drilling patches by industry firm Baker Hughes on Friday showed a reduction of only 15 oil rigs this week, versus drops more than 60 per week during several weeks over the past 2-½ months.
While the oil rig count is down 68% as a whole since the week ended March 13, the rate of decline has slowed in recent weeks, indicating that drillers were holding back on cuts as the surge in crude prices lure them to put out more barrels in return for more cash.
Also, weekly balances on U.S. crude tracked by the Energy Information Administration showed the biggest rise in stockpiles last week since the end of April.
New York-traded West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark for U.S. crude, settled up $1.78, or 5.2%, at $35.49 per barrel, erasing early weakness in the session that pushed WTI to as low as $32.26 at one point.
Brent, the London-traded global benchmark for oil, rose by $2.55 cents, or 7%, to settle at $37.84. The session low for Brent was $34.83.
For May, WTI was up 81% while Brent rose 96%. Both benchmarks are still down more than 40% on the year, as crude markets struggle to regain the demand loss of up to 30% experienced during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
Much of the crude rally in May was driven by cuts in oil rigs and well shut-ins by U.S. drillers responding to the collapse in fuel demand, which drove WTI to sub-zero prices at one point in April.
Larger production cuts by OPEC, which aims to remove 9.7 million barrels per day from global output, has also helped. A Reuters survey on Friday indicated that the cartel and its allies have made good on nearly three-quarters of the cuts by May itself, slashing almost 6 million barrels daily.
Even so, some analysts said the market was still some way off to achieving normalcy, and prices appeared frothy after five weeks of nearly non-stop gains.
ICAP (LON:NXGN) crude futures broker Scott Shelton wrote in the daily oil note circulated from the Durham, N.C. office of the brokerage:
“I am struggling to get excited about anything lately (as are many of my clients). It’s been a good run for a lot of people who are now apparently sidelined and waiting for a mistake before getting involved again,. This lack of interest strikes me as one of the reasons why there is a great deal of randomness in the flat price as of late in oil and that may continue in the near term.”
See also:
- Oil Down on Back of Possible U.S. Trade Sanctions Against China
- One Month on, Oil Rally Isn’t Slowing Despite Big U.S. Crude Build
- Oil Inventories Rose by 8M Barrels: EIA
Natural Gas
No report this week.
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