Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.44%
U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Technology, Consumer Services and Telecoms sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.44%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.77%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 1.49%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which rose 10.47% or 40.28 points to trade at 425.04 at the close. Meanwhile, Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) added 1.58% or 1.25 points to end at 80.24 and Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) was up 1.42% or 0.66 points to 47.10 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which fell 2.82% or 3.85 points to trade at 132.88 at the close. Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) declined 2.70% or 2.33 points to end at 83.94 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was down 2.44% or 3.95 points to 158.00.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) which rose 10.47% to 425.04, Kansas City Southern (NYSE:KSU) which was up 9.68% to settle at 171.85 and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) which gained 8.17% to close at 253.67.
The worst performers were Under Armour Inc A (NYSE:UAA) which was down 8.12% to 10.52 in late trade, Newell Brands Inc (NASDAQ:NWL) which lost 7.45% to settle at 16.40 and Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS) which was down 6.91% to 27.87 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Zion Oil & Gas Inc (NASDAQ:ZN) which rose 65.32% to 0.4500, Betterware De Mexico SA de CV (NASDAQ:BWMX) which was up 56.26% to settle at 13.00 and DarioHealth Corp (NASDAQ:DRIO) which gained 53.66% to close at 12.40.
The worst performers were Taoping Inc (NASDAQ:TAOP) which was down 58.18% to 3.6800 in late trade, Precipio Inc (NASDAQ:PRPO) which lost 55.14% to settle at 3.140 and Liminal BioSciences Inc (NASDAQ:LMNL) which was down 31.44% to 16.31 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1776 to 1274 and 89 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1893 fell and 913 advanced, while 63 ended unchanged.
Shares in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose to all time highs; gaining 10.47% or 40.28 to 425.04. Shares in Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) rose to all time highs; rising 8.17% or 19.17 to 253.67. Shares in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose to all time highs; up 10.47% or 40.28 to 425.04. Shares in Betterware De Mexico SA de CV (NASDAQ:BWMX) rose to all time highs; up 56.26% or 4.68 to 13.00. Shares in DarioHealth Corp (NASDAQ:DRIO) rose to 52-week highs; rising 53.66% or 4.33 to 12.40.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.21% to 24.46.
Gold Futures for August delivery was up 1.49% or 28.90 to $1971.20 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 1.30% or 0.52 to hit $40.44 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 0.90% or 0.39 to trade at $43.64 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.57% to 1.1779, while USD/JPY rose 1.06% to 105.83.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.46% at 93.435.
Stocks – Wall Street Opens Higher on Big Tech Q2 Surge; Dow up
Australia stocks lower at close of trade; S&P/ASX 200 down 2.04%
The dollar slumped in early European trade Friday, heading for its weakest month in 10 years, as traders fretted about the U.S. economic recovery due to the continued spread of the Covid-19 virus across the Midwest and the failure of U.S. lawmakers to agree a new round of stimulus measures.
At 2:50 AM ET (0650 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, was down 0.4% at 92.648, having fallen as low as 92.523, a new two-year low.
Elsewhere, USD/JPY was up 0.4% at 104.36, a 4-1/2-month low, GBP/USD was up 0.3% at 1.3135, a 4-1/2-month high.
Leading the charge has been the euro, with EUR/USD up 0.4% at 1.1898, up 5.8% this month, and well on course to post its biggest monthly gain in 10 years.
Reuters reported that Daisuke Uno, chief strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui (NYSE:SMFG) Bank, said:
“At the root of the dollar’s weakness is the fact, which was highlighted by Fed Chairman (Jerome) Powell the other day, that U.S. coronavirus cases started to increase in mid-June, curbing consumption and sending the economy downhill.”
Evidence of the economic weakness was delivered by the second quarter GDP data, which showed the U.S. economy contracted by a massive 32.9% annualised during that quarter.
That data may well be old news, but initial claims for unemployment benefits increased 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.434 million in the week ending July 25, a sign that recovery in the labor market is stalling.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump has created even more uncertainty over the upcoming presidential election, while Republicans and Democrats appear to be no closer to reaching consensus on the latest stimulus measures, with some earlier measures set to expire later Friday.
At the same time, the U.S. has reported almost 4.5 million Covid-19 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University data, while states like Florida and Arizona reported a record increase in new deaths for a third day in a row on Thursday.
Turning to technical analysis, the dollar has room to drop a lot more versus the euro. Karen Jones, Team Head FICC Technical Analysis Research at Commerzbank (DE:CBKG), said:
“EUR/USD is through tough resistance at 1.1815/33, this was a 61.8% Fibonacci retracement, a 12-year resistance line and the September 2018 high. We are surprised that this has not held the initial test. The break above here targets 1.2635/66, the 200-month ma.”
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One day – that’s all the bears in gold could manage in keeping gold prices down as the yellow metal bounced back Friday from a brief selloff across markets forced by the shock collapse of U.S. gross domestic product in the second quarter.
Ed Moya, an analyst at New York-based online trading platform OANDA, said:
“Gold mania continues and after tentatively clearing the $2,000 level, traders are starting to doubt whether a profit-taking pullback is in the cards.”
Spot gold, a real-time indicator of trades in bullion, was up $15.70, or 0.8%, at $1,972.34 by 2:25 PM ET (18:25 GMT). It fell a meager 0.6% in the previous session, touching a session low of $1,939.69 that remained well above the level it attained when it rewrote for the first time this week record highs from 2011.
On New York’s Comex, the August futures contract settled up $20.50, or 1.1%, at $1,962.80 before expiring and going off the board. On Thursday, August fell just 0.5%. For July, Comex gold ended up 9%, for its biggest monthly gain since February 2015. For the year, gold futures are up almost 30%.
That aside, Comex’s December contract – which will be its benchmark from next week – settled on Friday at $1,985.90. That means gold traders will see an automatic gain of $23 on the front-month when the market reopens Monday.
Further, December gold hit a record high of $2,005.40 in Friday’s Asian session, before the start of European and U.S. trading. That also means the new front-month for Comex would likely aim for a higher peak in the new week to sate gold bulls pursuing $2,000-territory.
Friday’s rebound came as the passage of a new $1 trillion coronavirus relief bill in the U.S. Congress was being held up by brawling between the Trump administration and rival Democrats on whether weekly benefits for the unemployed should remain at $600 or be cut to a third that amount, as the administration hopes. Moya said:
“Safe-haven demand remains strong as Congress and the White House continue to struggle to break the impasse on extending emergency unemployment benefits. Gold will continue to shine bright as real yields continue to fall deeper into negative territory, virus surges will keep economic recoveries limited, and the stimulus trade will not go away until the labor market bounces strongly back.”
Silver, which rallied along with gold through most of July, rose 35% for the year, outperforming not just the yellow metal but the entire commodities complex as well.
Silver’s front-month contract on Comex, September, settled up 85.40 cents, or 3.7%, on Friday at $24.22 per ounce.
See also:
- Gold Continues to Climb On Weak Dollar And Low Interest Rates
- Gold Snaps 9-Day Rally But Upside for $2,000 Still Evident
Like a shadow in the background that could suddenly leap to the front depending on how the light is cast, OPEC’s looming supply increase is threatening to shroud any bright fundamentals left in a pandemic-hit oil market that ended July trading up just $1 a barrel.
The Saudi-led Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is due to restore 2 million barrels of oil a day to world markets under the terms of its deal on output restraint with non-members allies steered by Russia.
That’s coming at a time when the rebound worldwide in fuel demand is under threat from a second wave of Covid-19, as more and more countries (notably Australia and the U.K. in the last 24 hours) re-tighten lockdown measures to stop local flare-ups.
New York-traded West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark for U.S. crude futures, settled Friday up 35 cents, or 0.9%, at $40.27 per barrel. At the end of June, the front-month contract for WTI settled at $39.27.
London-traded Brent, the bellwether for global crude prices, closed the New York session up 27 cents, or 0.6%, at $43.52.
OPEC’s decision to cut 7.5 million barrels from August instead of the 9.6-million bpd observed since May comes on the heels of data showing the U.S. economy suffered its worst collapse ever – a drop of nearly 33% – in the second quarter.
Phil Flynn, analyst at the Price Futures Group in Chicago whi usually has a bullish outlook on oil, said:
“When OPEC Plus decided to raise output early last month, it looked as if the market was going to need those extra barrels. Yet now with more uncertainty about a second wave of the coronavirus and a devastating weekly jobs reports, a historically wrong U.S. GDP number, perhaps at this time, a production increase might not be a great idea.”
Friday’s trade in oil was also suppressed by news showing record quarterly losses at both Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) and Chevron (NYSE:NYSE:CVX), the two largest oil producers in the United States. Earlier in the week, ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), another U.S. oil giant, announced a $1-billion loss.
On the virus front, there have been signs that the curve of new infections was flattening in the major fuel-consuming regions of California, Texas, and Florida.
But with White House Task Force Coordinator Deborah Birx warning on Thursday that travel had been a major factor in the their second wave – and in a rising wave of cases across Midwestern states now – the threat to demand is still clear enough.
According to Gasbuddy’s Patrick de Haan, gasoline demand on Thursday was -4.50% from the week ago level, while for the five days through Thursday, it was down -0.9% on the corresponding period a week earlier.
Reflecting those concerns, U.S. gasoline futures fell in Friday’s trade, underperforming the broader crude market. New York-traded RBOB gasoline settled down 1.97 cents, or 1.4%, at $1.17 per gallon. For July, U.S. gasoline settled down 1.2%.
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No report this week.
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