Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.39%
U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Oil & Gas and Industrials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.39% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index gained 1.66%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 1.24%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which rose 4.60% or 2.85 points to trade at 64.87 at the close. Meanwhile, Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) added 4.08% or 2.06 points to end at 52.57 and Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) was up 3.38% or 4.35 points to 132.99 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), which fell 0.96% or 3.16 points to trade at 327.39 at the close. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) declined 0.94% or 2.32 points to end at 244.87 and Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) was down 0.53% or 0.99 points to 185.92.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Nucor Corp (NYSE:NUE) which rose 8.90% to 79.30, Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:AMAT) which was up 7.45% to settle at 128.64 and KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) which gained 6.86% to close at 319.94.
The worst performers were Discovery Communications C Inc (NASDAQ:DISCK) which was down 29.55% to 35.96 in late trade, Discovery Inc Class A (NASDAQ:DISCA) which lost 27.45% to settle at 41.90 and ViacomCBS Inc (NASDAQ:VIAC) which was down 27.31% to 48.23 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Wah Fu Education Group Ltd (NASDAQ:WAFU) which rose 166.53% to 12.660, Big Rock Partners Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:BRPA) which was up 36.33% to settle at 36.55 and Nextdecade Corp (NASDAQ:NEXT) which gained 31.79% to close at 2.57.
The worst performers were Discovery Communications C Inc (NASDAQ:DISCK) which was down 29.55% to 35.96 in late trade, Discovery Inc Class A (NASDAQ:DISCA) which lost 27.45% to settle at 41.90 and ViacomCBS Inc (NASDAQ:VIAC) which was down 27.31% to 48.23 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 0 to 0; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 0 fell and 0 advanced.
Shares in Nucor Corp (NYSE:NUE) rose to 5-year highs; rising 8.90% or 6.48 to 79.30. Shares in Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:AMAT) rose to all time highs; up 7.45% or 8.92 to 128.64. Shares in Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) rose to 52-week highs; rising 4.08% or 2.06 to 52.57. Shares in Wah Fu Education Group Ltd (NASDAQ:WAFU) rose to all time highs; rising 166.53% or 7.910 to 12.660.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.80% to 18.86 a new 52-week low.
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.36% or 6.20 to $1731.30 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 3.71% or 2.17 to hit $60.73 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 3.92% or 2.43 to trade at $64.38 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.26% to 1.1794, while USD/JPY rose 0.45% to 109.67.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.12% at 92.718.
The dollar edged lower in early European trading Friday, but remains near multi-month highs on the back of rising optimism about the U.S. economic recovery, helped by a strong rollout of coronavirus vaccines.
At 3:55 AM ET (0755 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, was down 0.1% at 92.793, just below a four-month high of 92.868 reached overnight.
USD/JPY was up 0.1% at 109.25, near its highest since June, GBP/USD was up 0.1% at 1.3750, helped by retail sales posting a modest rebound in February after a brutal start to the year, climbing 2.1% on the month, while the risk-sensitive AUD/USD rose 0.5% to 0.7619.
The latest indication of the strength of the U.S. economic recovery came from Thursday’s weekly jobless claims data, which showed the number of people filing last week fell to a one-year low of 684,000 from the 781,000 claims filed during the previous week.
Later in the session the final print of the University of Michigan sentiment reading for March is expected to tick up as stimulus checks arrive and the country starts to reopen.
Other data, including personal spending and personal income in February, are due later in the day and could provide further hints about the U.S. economic strength.
Another positive driver for the greenback has been the strong start to the U.S. vaccination program, especially compared with the European equivalent.
President Joe Biden pledged on Thursday to double the U.S. vaccination rollout plan after reaching the previously set goal of 100 million shots 42 days ahead of schedule.
EUR/USD was up 0.2% at 1.1787, close to lows last seen in November last year, with the single currency suffering due to renewed coronavirus lockdowns and the slow pace of vaccinations across the European Union even as the region’s leaders meet to try and improve the situation.
Focus will turn to the release of the keenly-watched German business sentiment release later in the day, with the Ifo index expected to climb to 93.2 in March from 92.4 the previous month.
See also:
- Dollar Gains; Hits Four-Month High Versus Euro (Wednesday)
Up on the day and down on the week.
That’s the story in gold this Friday as both the spot price and futures of the yellow metal went through several hoops before settling slightly lower than where they did a week ago.
Most, importantly, the market did not crack the key ceiling of $1,750 per ounce, despite coming less than $4 of meeting that test.
With that, gold’s somewhat-positive-but-still-anemic run continues as bulls try to find a way beyond the mid-$1,700 level that’s critical for the build-up needed for a return to $1,800 pricing.
As the norm, what stands in their way are yields on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note that look likely to get beyond the 1.75% level next and a Dollar Index that could set new 92 highs.
“Gold prices are looking vulnerable as Treasury yields continue to push higher,” said Ed Moya, markets analyst at OANDA in New York. “A steady climb higher (in yields) should still be an environment that could have gold appreciate.”
Gold for April delivery settled Friday’s session up $7.20, or 0.4%, at $1,732.30 an ounce on New York’s Comex. For the week though, it dipped 0.5%.
The spot price of gold, which fund managers sometimes rely on for direction more than futures, was up $3.67, or 0.2%, at $1,731.01 by 3:04 PM ET (19:04 GMT). For the week, spot gold showed a decline of 0.8%.
Long associated with tags such as safe-haven, store of value and inflation-hedge, gold has debunked such connotations for at least six months now, plunging particularly when market hype over inflation sent Treasury yields soaring instead.
The yellow metal demonstrated the faith placed on it by investors through the height of the pandemic, rising from March 2020 lows of under $1,500 to reach a record high of nearly $2,100. It has plunged since, briefly turning into a bear market early month when it lost as much 20% to hit lows under $1,675.
While gold has crawled out of that hole, it’s been stuck under $1,750, behaving more like a patient on life support than one on the clear path to recovery.
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Oil prices rose Friday but still settled the week lower after a rollercoaster ride where the market was first buffeted by Europe’s third wave of Covid-19, before being buoyed by a Suez Canal jam that could inordinately delay global shipments of crude.
In all probability, the volatility will extend into next week when producer alliance OPEC+ meets to conceivably vote against a hike in production due to the challenges posed by new lockdowns in Europe. “It is more likely that the group will look to extend production cuts,” Phil Flynn, an energy analyst at the Price Futures Group in Chicago, said.
New York-traded West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark for U.S. crude, settled Friday’s trade up $2.41, or 4.1%, at $60.97. For the week though, it was down 0.8%, extending last week’s 6.4% drop and the previous week’s 0.7% slide.
London-traded Brent, the global benchmark for crude, finished the regular session higher by $2.48, or 4%, at $64.43. For the week, it showed a decline of 0.2%, adding to the combined 7% loss of the previous two weeks.
Since Tuesday, oil has gyrated in a yoyo-like fashion, falling 6% before recovering almost all of that the next day, and then taking another downward turn on Thursday with a 4% drop that was recouped in the current session.
Friday’s rebound came amid reports that it could take weeks to dislodge a giant container ship blocking the Suez Canal – a development that could delay the global movement of crude and refined products well into mid-April. Shipping rates for oil product tankers have already almost doubled this week, responding to the crisis.
The Suez Canal is jammed after powerful winds forced Ever Given – a Panama-flagged, Taiwanese-operated and Japanese-owned ship – aground on one of its banks. The blockade has disrupted one of the world’s most important maritime arteries, through which roughly 10% of global shipping traffic passes.
According to tanker tracking firm Kpler, of the 39.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of total seaborne trade in crude in 2020, 1.74 million went through the canal. Additionally, 1.54 million barrels daily of refined oil products such as gasoline and diesel fuel flow through the waterway, making up about 9% of global seaborne product trade.
As of Friday, hundreds of ships were stuck at each end of the 120-mile passage which connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. A Dutch salvage firm – which has rescued and recovered dozens of ships and wrecks from sea, including Russia’s Kursk nuclear submarine from the Barents Sea floor – is working to free the Ever Given tanker, which diagonally is said to be as long as New York’s Empire State Building is tall.
Crude prices were also lifted somewhat by reports that Yemeni Houthi forces had launched attacks on Thursday on facilities owned by Saudi Arabia’s state oil company Aramco (SE:2222). For weeks now, such Houthi attacks have been reported and quickly discounted for impact, providing nothing more than fleeting support to the oil market.
More important though was what the OPEC+ alliance will do next week – particularly what its figurehead, the Saudis, will think up to try and bring back the mojo in a market that rallied nearly four months non-stop before last week’s stunning 7% drop that set it on a rollercoaster motion.
Since April, the 23-nation OPEC+ – made up of the 13-member Saudi-led OPEC, or Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, and 10 other non-OPEC nations steered by Russia – has withheld between nine and seven million barrels per day of regular supply from the market.
Those cuts helped WTI rise from a little under $36 per barrel on Oct. 30 to reach just below $68 by March 8. Brent went from beneath $38 to just above $71 in that same stretch. But over the past fortnight, the two benchmarks have lost about 10% from those highs.
The most critical component of the OPEC+ cuts has been the Saudi portion – which has accounted for anywhere between one and two million barrels per day since April.
In January, when the market was actively betting on the alliance to hike production amid strengthening signs of demand recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, the Saudis doubled down with an additional one million-barrel cut for February and March, sending crude prices soaring. They pulled off a similar stunt last month, after bypassing the opportunity to raise production for April.
At next week’s meeting for May quotas, the smart money is on the Saudis to try and clamp down on output again, though some said the kingdom’s propensity to surprise was beginning to fade.
“You do it once, it’s a surprise. Twice maybe. Third time? I wouldn’t think so,” said John Kilduff, partner at New York energy hedge fund Again Capital. “I think another cut is already baked into the cake and the market is beginning to get a little desensitized to the OPEC show.”
See also:
Natural Gas (Hellenic Shipping News)
Regional US inventories have been strengthening, with the deficit narrowing to the five-year average as US gas demand has remained muted with above-average temperatures across the country, in addition to dry production remaining resilient after rebounding from the winter storm freeze-offs seen just a few weeks ago.
Midwest and Midcontinent
Total Midcontinent demand has been trending lower year on year with warmer temperatures. Demand so far this March has averaged 17.03 Bcf/d, 16% below last year, while temperatures have averaged 7 degrees above normal, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics. Both power and residential demand have seen declines year on year with power falling 1.3 Bcf/d and heating 1.9 Bcf/d, currently sitting about 2 Bcf/d below the three-year average.
Adding to this bearish sentiment, SCOOP/STACK production has fully recovered from freeze-offs in February and has exceeded pre-cold snap output. Before the winter storm SCOOP/STACK production was 3.6 Bcf/d before dropping to a three-year low then recovering to its current average of 3.7 Bcf/d, Platts Analytics recorded. Modeled production in the Midcon Producing has increased above January and February averages, sitting at 8.57 Bcf/d and 3% above the five-year average.
Storage in the Midcon Producing moved below last year levels last month but has since flipped to a surplus with stronger production and weaker demand. Midcon Producing storage has reached 142 Bcf as of March 24, about 20 Bcf above levels at this time last year and 7% above the five-year average, Platts Analytics data showed. However, Upper Midwest storage sits at a 46 Bcf deficit to last year while remaining 17% above the five-year average.
Spot prices in the Midcontinent have lowered since the beginning of March as Chicago city-gates moved down 17.5 cents to $2.47/MMBtu in March 23 trading. Natural Gas Pipeline-Midcontinent Pool also fell 26 cents over the same period to $2.26/MMBtu.
Northeast
Total residential-commercial demand in the Northeast has seen significant declines as temperatures are expected to sit roughly 14 degrees F above average over the next few days, with heating demand falling to 6 Bcf/d March 25, down by more than 50% from one week prior.
While total gas demand remains muted in the Northeast, dry gas production has jumped above 33 Bcf/d this week, adding additional pressure to gas prices in the region.
Algonquin city-gates was trading 24 cents lower in ICE preliminary trading on March 24 to $1.91/MMBtu, the lowest level seen this year-to-date.
According to S&P Global Platts Analytics, Northeast demand is forecast to stay below 20 Bcf/d through the balance of March, averaging 18.3 Bcf/d, roughly 6.5 Bcf/d weaker than average demand observed this month, which should help slow withdrawals from depleted inventories in the final days of the withdrawal season.
Dominion inventories are currently at a 200 MMcf/d surplus to the five-year average while Columbia Gas inventories sit at a 14 Bcf deficit to the five-year average.
Texas and Southeast
Power demand for Texas and the Southeast has averaged 11.05 Bcf/d so far this month. This level was nearly 2.25 Bcf lower than what power demand was at this time last year, according to Platts Analytics. Power demand has averaged 12.46 Bcf/d year-to-date, 8% lower than what demand averaged in 2020.
Also adding downward pressure to gas demand, wind generation has averaged nearly 40% of the supply stack in ERCOT this month, 11% higher than levels that the market saw in February, according to Platts Analytics.
The cash price for Houston Ship Channel increased 1 cent on the day at $2.39/MMBtu. This level was 3 cents lower than what HSC has averaged so far this month.
As the region has faced lower demand, total Southeast and Texas storage inventories have grown nearly 40 Bcf this month, pushing over 580 Bcf to start the week of March 22, according to Platts Analytics.
At current levels, inventories are 130 Bcf lower year on year but only 65 Bcf below the five-year average, considerably closing the 144 Bcf deficit to the five-year seen in mid-February, according to Platts Analytics.
West
The storage surplus in the Mountain region has increased from 3.5% for the week ended March 5 to 6.5% for the week ended March 12. Gas production in the Rockies recovered quickly from mid-February levels, even as regional gas demand trails year-ago levels.
In contrast to the other regions, the Pacific region’s storage surplus to the five-year average has shrank further over the last several weeks, falling to a year-to-date low of 7% for the week ended March 12 from 9.9% for the week ended Feb. 26. The continued storage depletion can partly be explained by weaker hydropower generation in the Northwest, which has created room for additional gas-fired power generation, according to data published by the Bonneville Power Administration, or BPA. Hydropower generation in the BPA footprint has averaged 174 MWh/d for March, substantially lower than the 218 MWh/d averaged in February and 239 MWh/d averaged in January.
Source: Platts
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