Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.69%
U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Technology, Consumer Goods and Consumer Services sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.69%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.34%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.42%.
Please share this article – Go to very top of page, right hand side for social media buttons.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which rose 5.15% or 24.38 points to trade at 497.48 at the close. Meanwhile, Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) added 1.61% or 1.74 points to end at 109.75 and Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) was up 0.91% or 2.55 points to 283.23 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), which fell 1.23% or 2.08 points to trade at 167.50 at the close. Raytheon Technologies Corp (NYSE:RTX) declined 1.18% or 0.72 points to end at 60.27 and Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) was down 0.75% or 0.31 points to 41.01.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) which rose 5.15% to 497.48, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) which was up 4.47% to settle at 507.34 and Estee Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE:EL) which gained 4.41% to close at 207.01.
The worst performers were Keysight Technologies Inc (NYSE:KEYS) which was down 6.75% to 95.88 in late trade, Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) which lost 4.36% to settle at 5.27 and News Corp B (NASDAQ:NWS) which was down 3.69% to 14.63 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Hancock Jaffe Laboratories (NASDAQ:HJLI) which rose 63.89% to 0.4602, Harpoon Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:HARP) which was up 30.63% to settle at 15.31 and Bio Path Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:BPTH) which gained 30.30% to close at 5.16.
The worst performers were Stein Mart Inc (NASDAQ:SMRT) which was down 34.60% to 0.0739 in late trade, Gevo Inc (NASDAQ:GEVO) which lost 32.42% to settle at 1.230 and VivoPower International PLC (NASDAQ:VVPR) which was down 27.02% to 2.620 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2030 to 991 and 104 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1954 fell and 863 advanced, while 55 ended unchanged.
Shares in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose to all time highs; rising 5.15% or 24.38 to 497.48. Shares in NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) rose to all time highs; rising 4.47% or 21.70 to 507.34. Shares in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose to all time highs; gaining 5.15% or 24.38 to 497.48. Shares in Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) rose to all time highs; up 1.61% or 1.74 to 109.75. Shares in Stein Mart Inc (NASDAQ:SMRT) fell to all time lows; falling 34.60% or 0.0391 to 0.0739.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.79% to 22.54.
Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.06% or 1.10 to $1947.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 1.21% or 0.52 to hit $42.30 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract fell 1.34% or 0.60 to trade at $44.30 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.53% to 1.1796, while USD/JPY rose 0.01% to 105.81.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.46% at 93.205.
Dow Advances on Apple-Infused Rally Amid Signs of Growing iPhone 12 Demand
U.S. stocks end higher Friday; Nasdaq paces weekly gains, up 2.7% (MarketWatch)
Stocks – Europe Mixed; DAX Outperforms on Manufacturing Recovery
The dollar rose on Friday, and remained set to end the week in the green following stronger-than-expected economic data, but some experts have warned the reprieve for the greenback will likely be short-lived.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.47% to 93.12.
The Commerce Department said existing home sales rose by a record 24.7% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.86 million units., topping forecasts for a 14.7% rise.
A survey of U.S. business activity also helped to ease fears about slack in the economic recovery.
IHS Markit data showed flash Composite Purchasing Managers’ index of 54.7 for August, above forecasts of 51.3.
The greenback has come under pressure in recent months as the spread of coronavirus, which has since eased, spiked across the U.S.
But the damage the second wave of the virus has had on the economy will continue to weigh and force the Federal Reserve to continue with stimulus measures, threatening to send the dollar on a wild swing lower again. Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) said:
“Although infections with the Covid-19-virus have now stabilized in the US, the relatively rapid outbreak of a second wave of the virus there has clearly tarnished the image of the dollar as a safe haven.”
With the Federal Reserve in the midst of tweaking its forward guidance to link monetary policy to the achievement of concrete macroeconomic goals, investors continued to expect that, acording to Commerz Bank, the Fed would stick to its
expansionary monetary policy much longer than was the case after past crises,””This in turn would require a reassessment of the market, especially of the dollar versus the euro. “
See also:
Down 1% Friday to neatly reverse the previous session’s gain, gold has become a classic “yo-yo” trade as longs and shorts square off to determine the next direction for the yellow metal after this week’s worst carnage in seven years.
Gold fell nearly 3.5% on the week, the first weekly decline in 10 and the biggest setback since early May, when safe-havens and risk assets plunged together during a liquidity crunch at the height of the coronavirus scare in the United States.
Tuesday’s biggest one-day sell-off in gold since 2013 wiped 5%, or $93, off the December contract, which is the most-active on New York’s Comex, after a greater intraday swing of $129. Since then, trading in the yellow metal has turned into a game of pure nerves or, at best, high-powered chess.
December gold settled Friday’s trade down $20.60 at $1,949.80 per ounce after hitting an intraday low of $1,940.10. Just a week ago, it hit $2,089, the highest ever for any gold futures contract on Comex, before the avalanche triggered. Sunil Kumar Dixit, an independent precious metals chartist, said :
“The curious case with gold is what, when and how much surprise it comes with. For now, there’s no longer one-sided momentum. Volatility is on either side.”
Dixit said the “upper flanks” of gold showed a market that could go from $1990 to $2,007 and $2,015, while “lower linings” could bring a range from $1,920 to $1,900, $1,888 and $1,860. He said:
“A range break on either side can add momentum of $40 to $100 more.”
His best bullish case for gold is a ramp up to between $2,015-$2,029. Dixit added:
“I don’t see the bulls succeeding above $2,029 to $2,039 as this will be a point of huge breakdown.”
See also:
Oil prices settled lower on Friday after data showed the U.S. rig count jumped double digits this week, suggesting crude drillers in the world’s largest producing country were adding to output despite a questionable demand outlook amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Rigs actively drilling for oil in the United States stood at 183 this week, versus last week’s all-time low of 172, oil services firm Baker Hughes said in its routine survey.
Baker Hughes had not reported a single oil rig addition since February, even before the coronavirus outbreak in the United States which decimated demand for energy. It has been more than a year since there was a double-digit rise in rigs.
The surge in rigs suggest that U.S. oil drillers were getting comfortable with crude prices at around $40 per barrel.
History has shown that rig additions, once they begin, can quickly rise in shale oil patches. The result typically is higher production than the market can bear, a phenomenon that ultimately weighs on crude prices. The U.S. oil rig count stood as high as 1,606 in 2014, triggering a price crash that took crude to around $25 per barrel two years later from previous highs above $100.
In Friday’s trade, New York-traded West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark for U.S. crude futures, settled down 48 cents, or 1.1%, at 42.34 per barrel.
London-traded Brent, the bellwether for global crude prices, fell 55 cents, or 1.2%, to close the New York session at $44.35.
For the week, WTI rose 0.8% while Brent fell 1%.
Even before the Baker Hughes data release, crude prices were trading down on the day on reports of a ceasefire in oil-rich Libya – a development that looked set to increase global production and ruin OPEC’s 97% compliance rate on an oil production cut agreement.
OPEC, or the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, has 13 members led by Saudi Arabia. It also has 10 non-members allies that include Russia. It announced this week that demand for oil could be slower than expected, despite production cuts by its enlarged OPEC+ group.
Natural Gas (ETF News)
Since the end of June, the natural gas futures market experienced a significant recovery. The price traded to a twenty-five-year low at $1.432 in late June. Over the past sessions, the nearby NYMEX futures contract reached a peak of $2.465, over 72% higher in only three short months.
Warren Buffett’s purchase of Dominion Energy’s (D) transmission and pipeline assets for approximately $10 billion put a spotlight on the natural gas market and likely contributed to a shift in sentiment. While inventories remain at a high level compared to this time in 2019 and the five-year average, production has declined significantly. According to Baker Hughes, only seventy natural gas rigs were extracting the energy commodity from the crust of the earth in the United States on August 14, compared to 165 in mid-August 2019. In commodity markets, the cure for low prices is often low prices, and natural gas at a quarter-of-a-century low was likely far too inexpensive. A value investor, Mr. Buffet, seized the opportunity to pick up a bargain in the natural gas market, and the price responded by moving over 70% higher over the past weeks.
On Thursday, August 20, the Energy Information Administration released its latest inventory data. The market had expected a 43 billion cubic feet injection into storage for the week ending on August 14. The United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) moves higher and lower with the price of NYMEX natural gas futures. The BOIL and KOLD products provide double leverage on the up and downside in the volatile energy commodity.
.
