Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.89%
U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare, Industrials and Consumer Services sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.89% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.77%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.51%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Honeywell International Inc (NYSE:HON), which rose 3.24% or 7.13 points to trade at 226.99 at the close. Meanwhile, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 3.12% or 11.40 points to end at 376.29 and Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM) was up 3.00% or 6.73 points to 231.18 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), which fell 1.13% or 0.62 points to trade at 54.17 at the close. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) declined 1.12% or 1.82 points to end at 161.15 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was down 1.05% or 2.68 points to 252.27.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were PVH Corp (NYSE:PVH) which rose 5.63% to 110.44, Harley-Davidson Inc (NYSE:HOG) which was up 3.65% to settle at 42.07 and Tapestry Inc (NYSE:TPR) which gained 3.64% to close at 44.95.
The worst performers were Helmerich and Payne Inc (NYSE:HP) which was down 4.09% to 25.80 in late trade, Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) which lost 3.33% to settle at 18.60 and Molson Coors Brewing Co Class B (NYSE:TAP) which was down 3.06% to 50.00 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Celcuity LLC (NASDAQ:CELC) which rose 51.15% to 21.63, Affimed NV (NASDAQ:AFMD) which was up 23.32% to settle at 9.73 and NCS Multistage Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:NCSM) which gained 19.68% to close at 29.550.
The worst performers were Novo Integrated Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:NVOS) which was down 24.38% to 2.730 in late trade, Franklin Wireless Corp (NASDAQ:FKWL) which lost 23.54% to settle at 13.2 and Iterum Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ:ITRM) which was down 19.25% to 1.30 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1645 to 1415 and 108 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1834 fell and 1354 advanced, while 104 ended unchanged.
Shares in PVH Corp (NYSE:PVH) rose to 52-week highs; up 5.63% or 5.88 to 110.44. Shares in Honeywell International Inc (NYSE:HON) rose to all time highs; gaining 3.24% or 7.13 to 226.99. Shares in Celcuity LLC (NASDAQ:CELC) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 51.15% or 7.32 to 21.63. Shares in Affimed NV (NASDAQ:AFMD) rose to 5-year highs; up 23.32% or 1.84 to 9.73.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.53% to 16.69 a new 52-week low.
Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.83% or 14.55 to $1743.65 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 0.40% or 0.24 to hit $59.36 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 0.25% or 0.16 to trade at $63.04 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.06% to 1.1905, while USD/JPY rose 0.38% to 109.66.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.10% at 92.162.
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The dollar looks set to snap a three-week win streak Friday, and while analysts are expecting short-term gains to resume, the longer-term outlook for the greenback is less convincing.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.10% to 92.17.
“In the coming weeks, the dollar is more likely to gain on account of the strong recovery of the US economy. However, it is likely to weaken again versus the euro in the second half of the year,” Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) said.
The gloomy outlook on the dollar comes as investors are reining in their bets on inflation spiraling out of control and the Fed acting sooner-than-expected.
The injection of further monetary policy from President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan could prove as another potential source of weakness for the greenback.
Further stimulus would “not be the magic formula with which to boost the US economy … rather, it would only trigger a short- to medium-term artificial boom, which is too obviously finite for the FX market to be seduced by it in the long term,” Commerzbank added.
In the short-term, however, there is room for the dollar to ride on the coattails of Treasury yields.
“Our rates team is expecting UST yields to be back on the rise next week: in FX, this may imply that the dollar can recover some ground to low-yielders,” ING said in a note.
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Gold prices slid on Friday but still ended the week up 1% as the yellow metal emerged partially victorious from its fencing duels with U.S. bond yields and the dollar, which were sluggish most of the week from mixed readings on inflation.
Benchmark gold futures on New York’s Comex settled down $13.60, or 0.8%, at $1,744.80 an ounce. For the week, however, it rose 1.05%.
The spot price of gold was down $12.67, or 0.7%, at $1,742.95 by 3:00 PM ET (19:00 GMT). For the week, spot gold was up 0.8%. Moves in spot gold are integral to fund managers, who sometimes rely more on it than futures for direction.
Both spot and gold futures broke above $1,750 on Thursday, smashing the key resistance the first time in six weeks, as bond yields and the dollar retreated from their recent highs.
On Friday, the benchmark yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note hovered at 1.66% versus its 14-month high of 1.77% hit on March 30.
The Dollar Index, which pits the greenback against the euro and five other major currencies, was at 9216, versus the 93.13 level it scaled on.
Technical charts for both Comex and spot gold indicate a potential return to $1,800 pricing if the yellow metal reprises this week’s highs at next week’s close.
“A weekly close above $1,755 would really confirm potential for the next target of $1,780-$1,835 and possibly beyond,” said Sunil Kumar Dixit of SK Dixit Charting in Kolkata, India.
But some think yields and the dollar could also rebound and cut short the gold rally.
“With the dollar and Treasury yields on the rise, gold is once again out of favour today, although it is still on track for a rare weekly gain,” said Sophie Griffiths, markets analyst for online broker OANDA.
“With expectations of a strong US economic recovery, there’s a good chance that the move higher in gold will be short-lived.”
Gold had a scorching run in mid-2020 when it rose from March lows of under $1,500 to reach record highs of nearly $2,100 by August, responding to inflationary concerns sparked by the first U.S. fiscal relief of $3 trillion approved for the coronavirus pandemic.
Breakthroughs in vaccine development since November, along with optimism of economic recovery, however, forced gold to close 2020 trading at just below $1,900.
Since the start of this year, gold has had more headwinds as the dollar and bond yields often surged on the argument that U.S. economic recovery from the pandemic could exceed expectations, leading to fears of spiraling inflation as the Federal Reserve kept interest rates at near zero.
Gold’s fall from grace in 2021 is more remarkable if considered from the perspective of the additional Covid-19 relief of $1.9 trillion passed by Congress in March, and the Biden administration’s plan next for an infrastructure spending bill of $2.2 trillion.
The dollar debasement from these stimulus measures should have sent gold rallying as an inflation hedge. But the opposite has often happened.
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Oil prices fell as much as 3.5% on the week as concerns over summer fuel demand offset news that Europe appeared to be finally turning the corner on its Covid-19 vaccine crisis.
Germany doubled the number of daily Covid-19 vaccinations, France hit a key immunization milestone a week ahead of schedule, and Italy was set to ease lockdown restrictions as contagion rates slow, reports said on Friday.
Yet, both U.S. crude and global benchmark Brent fell more than $1.50 per barrel for the week on concerns over how demand for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel will fare in the second quarter, which typically marks the seasonal pickup for travel that lasts through early in the third quarter.
To be fair, much of the week’s price drop was due to a 4% slump on Monday as traders reacted to a decision by producer alliance OPEC+ to ease output cuts between May and July, despite a less-than-rosy second quarter outlook.
While crude prices had rebounded from Monday’s lows, their recovery was too feeble to make a difference, in the face of on-off-and-on-again problems in Europe.
“The crude demand outlook for Europe and emerging markets is still messy and until optimism returns, oil prices could remain heavy,” said Ed Moya, who heads U.S. markets research for online broker OANDA. “Oil is in for a choppy trade environment over the next couple of weeks.”
New York-traded West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark for U.S. crude, settled down 28 cents, or 0.5%, at $59.32 per barrel. For the week, WTI fell 3.5%.
London-traded Brent, the global benchmark for crude, settled down 25 cents, or 0.4%, on Friday at $62.95. For the week, Brent was down 3%.
Earlier this week, reporting on the Covid-19 pandemic showed the U.K. variant of the virus continuing to scorch parts of Europe – with Poland experiencing 60 times more cases than a year ago.
India, the third-largest buyer of crude after China and the United States, saw a record of more than 100,000 new daily infections at the weekend.
Crude prices have also come under pressure after Iran opened talks with global powers in Vienna this week to find a way to end the two-year long U.S. sanctions on its oil imposed by the former Trump administration.
The White House, now under President Joseph Biden, is agreeable to ending the sanctions, provided Tehran shows proof that its nuclear program isn’t capable of producing an atomic bomb. Iran is, however, demanding the sanctions be removed first before it makes such concessions.
Despite the differences, the talks have made progress almost every day since they began on Tuesday, reports said.
Iran has said that it could return “within months” to its peak oil production of nearly 4 million barrels a day once the sanctions are lifted. Sources familiar with the country’s crude output currently estimated its production at around 2 million barrels daily.
Analysts say the additional supply from Iran, whenever it comes, will lead to a reconfiguration of global oil supply that could be more bearish than bullish.
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Natural Gas (Hellenic Shipping News)
US natural gas storage fields post another strong shoulder season build
Above-average injections into US gas storage fields during shoulder season suggest stocks might fill early this year, presenting a possibly bearish market landscape this summer.
Storage inventories increased 20 Bcf to 1.784 Tcf for the week ended April 2, the US Energy Information Administration reported April 8.
The build was less than the 27 Bcf injection expected by an S&P Global Platts’ survey of analysts. It was also less than the 30 Bcf addition reported during the same week last year, but above the five-year average injection of 8 Bcf, according to EIA data.
Lower weather-driven demand pushed US residential-commercial consumption down almost 2 Bcf/d for the week ended April 2, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics. Despite reduced space heating, power loads increased week over week as modest cooling degree days drove some demand in the Southeast.
Higher total loads interacted with stronger renewable generation, though, pushing the call on thermal generation lower. Yet, despite the smaller call on thermal generation, US gas-fired generation gained nearly 800 MMcf/d, with gas’ share of thermal generation growing by about 2% to average roughly 63.5%. Switching to supply, US production gained a modest 200 MMcf/d, while a softer call on Canadian inflows drove net imports lower by roughly 100 MMcf/d.
Storage volumes now stand 235 Bcf, or 11.6%, less than the year-ago level of 2.019 Tcf and only 24 Bcf, or 1.3%, less than the five-year average of 1.808 Tcf.
Natural gas prices saw some selling pressure with the May Henry Hub NYMEX contract falling to as low as $2.46/MMBtu on April 7. The weakness in price appears to be driven by a lack of bullish catalysts, as the market is entering a period in which loads are seasonally quite weak and demand is soft. As such, it appears NYMEX futures are largely being shaped by cash prices with Henry Hub spot prices clearing below $2.40/MMBtu on April 8.
The NYMEX Henry Hub May contract was at $2.51/MMBtu in trading following the release of the weekly storage report on April 8.
Platts Analytics’ supply and demand model currently forecasts a 64 Bcf injection for the week ending April 9, which would flip the deficit to the five-year average to a surplus.
The inventory gains were concentrated in the South Central and Midwest regions, which each accounted for a little more than a third of the total volume change week over week. Mild shoulder season weather means temperatures are rising enough to cut residential and commercial demand, but not climbing high enough to provide offsetting gains to power burn.
Source: Platts
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