Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.42%
U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Consumer Services, Oil & Gas and Utilities sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.42%, while the S&P 500 index lost 0.54%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.71%.
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 Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG), which rose 2.01% or 2.80 points to trade at 142.28 at the close. Meanwhile, Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) added 0.56% or 0.31 points to end at 55.38 and Honeywell International Inc (NASDAQ:HON) was up 0.37% or 0.87 points to 233.75 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which fell 2.74% or 5.83 points to trade at 206.73 at the close. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) declined 2.21% or 5.13 points to end at 226.50 and Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) was down 1.30% or 2.31 points to 176.04.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Capri Holdings Ltd (NYSE:CPRI) which rose 12.51% to 56.31, KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) which was up 8.99% to settle at 348.15 and Fortive Corp (NYSE:FTV) which gained 5.20% to close at 72.63.
The worst performers were Newell Brands Inc (NASDAQ:NWL) which was down 9.07% to 24.75 in late trade, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) which lost 7.50% to settle at 3329.98 and eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) which was down 7.07% to 68.22 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Erytech Pharma SA ADR (NASDAQ:ERYP) which rose 52.31% to 6.260, Allied Healthcare Products Inc (NASDAQ:AHPI) which was up 38.38% to settle at 8.220 and Marin Software Inc (NASDAQ:MRIN) which gained 28.41% to close at 8.29.
The worst performers were Cassava Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:SAVA) which was down 32.69% to 69.56 in late trade, LAVA Therapeutics NV (NASDAQ:LVTX) which lost 26.30% to settle at 5.52 and Xenetic Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:XBIO) which was down 24.62% to 3.995 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1932 to 1233 and 125 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2156 fell and 1323 advanced, while 143 ended unchanged.
Shares in Honeywell International Inc (NASDAQ:HON) rose to all time highs; rising 0.37% or 0.87 to 233.75. Shares in LAVA Therapeutics NV (NASDAQ:LVTX) fell to all time lows; down 26.30% or 1.97 to 5.52.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 3.05% to 18.24.
Gold Futures for August delivery was down 1.07% or 19.60 to $1811.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 0.15% or 0.11 to hit $73.73 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 0.03% or 0.02 to trade at $75.12 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.20% to 1.1862, while USD/JPY rose 0.24% to 109.72.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.29% at 92.142.
See also:
The dollar edged higher in early European trading Friday, but looks set to register a negative week after a dovish Federal Reserve meeting and some disappointing growth data.
At 2:55 AM ET (0755 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded 0.1% higher at 91.998, having earlier fallen as low as 91.855 on Thursday, a one-month low. The index is currently around 1% lower on the week, its worst weekly showing since early May, and down around 0.6% for the month.
USD/JPY rose 0.1% to 109.61, GBP/USD fell 0.1% to 1.3944, just off its highest level in a month, EUR/USD fell 0.1% to 1.1877, while the risk-sensitive AUD/USD fell 0.2% to 0.7379.
The U.S. central bank stated earlier this week that progress had been made towards the levels where the policymakers would agree to tapering monthly bond purchases.
However, Chairman Jerome Powell made it clear that rate increases were still a long way away and more economic progress was needed before the central bank starts withdrawing its extraordinary monetary stimulus.
“Although the FOMC made more hints at the upcoming QE tapering, the impact on the risk sentiment was limited and non-negative as the message remained cautious, and QE tapering later this year has been widely expected by the markets,” said analysts at ING, in a note.
The U.S. GDP release grew 6.5% annualised in the second quarter, a solid level and an improvement from the 6.3% growth recorded in the first quarter, but this was still below the 8.5% growth expected.
Investors will be keeping an eye on the second-quarter employment cost index, personal income and spending for June and the July University of Michigan consumer sentiment index later in the day for more clues over the country’s economic recovery.
That said, the dollar could receive support if rising Covid cases in the U.S. prompt a bout of risk aversion.
The New York Times reported Friday that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has described the delta variant of the coronavirus to be as contagious as chickenpox and could cause severe illness, citing an internal CDC document.
See also:
Gold settled up for the week and month despite a price drop on Friday as a Federal Reserve standing resolute against any immediate talk of stimulus tapering or rate hike restored some shine to the yellow metal.
Front-month gold on New York’s Comex settled down $18.60, or 1%, at $1,817.20 an ounce. For the week, it rose 1%. More importantly, for July, it finished up almost 3%, after June’s 7% plunge.
“Gold’s great week is ending on a down note, but bullion bulls are probably feeling pretty optimistic,” said Ed Moya, head of research for the Americas at New York’s OANDA. “Gold appears to be close to triggering technical buying following the aftermath of the Fed, persistent delta variant concerns, and depressed global bond yields.”
After two weeks of anemic action, gold longs got a break on Wednesday when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank wasn’t ready to even think of raising U.S. interest rates as it was still focused on buying assets to support an economy recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.
Powell also refused to go near any talk of when the Fed might consider tapering the combined $120 billion the Fed was plonking each month into Treasury bonds and agency mortgage‑backed securities. His mantra: It isn’t time.
Getting toward the Fed’s twin mandates of maximum employment for Americans and sustainable inflation were the goals, he reasoned.
U.S. jobless claims stood at 400,000 and above for a second week in a row, according to Labor Department data on Thursday that suggested a continued challenge for the fragile labor market recovery amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Personal Consumption Expenditure Index, the Fed’s preferred gauge for inflation, rose by 3.5% year-on-year in June – its most in 30 years – when stripped of volatile food and energy prices.
Since January, gold has been on a tough ride that began in August last year – when it came off record highs above $2,000 and meandered for a few months before stumbling into a systemic decay from November, when the first breakthroughs in Covid-19 vaccine efficiencies were announced. At one point, gold raked a near 11-month bottom at under $1,674.
After appearing to break that dark spell with a bounce back to $1,905 in May, gold saw a new round of short-selling that took it back and forth between $1,700 and $1,800.
Gold is currently consolidating between the 50- and -100 day simple moving averages. If it clears $1,850 next week, it might be able to make a run toward $1,900.
The risk, however, is U.S. jobs showing a bigger-than-expected gain for July in the Labor Department’s monthly nonfarm payroll report due next week. If that overshoots forecasts, it could complicate the Fed’s aim of keeping the stimulus on for the foreseeable future and rates lower for longer. Gold might be caught in treacherous waters again if the job numbers surprise.
See also:
Oil had its best week in five on Friday after outsized U.S. draws in everything, from crude to gasoline and diesel, helped bulls put the market back on a positive track.
New York-traded West Texas Intermediate crude and London’s Brent also posted modest gains for July, extending oil’s positive run to a fourth straight month.
WTI settled up 33 cents, or 0.5%, at $73.95 per barrel on Friday. The benchmark for U.S. oil was up 2.1% for the Monday-Friday stretch, marking its best week in five. It also showed a gain of 0.7% for July.
Brent, the global benchmark for oil, settled up 31 cents, or 0.4%, at $75.41 on the day. For the week, Brent rose 1.8%. For July, Brent showed a 1.1% gain. That was its best in six weeks.
After a soft start to the week, oil’s upside was restored by data from the Energy Information Administration showing a crude inventory drop of 4.089 million barrels during the week to July 23, compared with analysts’ expectations for a draw of 2.928 million barrels.
The big drawdowns in crude came as refiners focused on pushing out as much gasoline as they could this summer to meet projected demand for the peak U.S. driving season.
According to the EIA, refiners operated at 91.1 percent of capacity for the week to July 23, not far from highs seen during the pre-pandemic summer of 2019.
Gasoline stockpiles on their own fell by 2.25 million barrels for the week to July 23, against a forecast 1.24 million.
The outlier for the week, however, was diesel-heavy distillates, which drew down by 3.1 million barrels, more than quadruple the forecast decline of 700,000. The outsized draw shows that demand for trucking and other commercial vehicle fuel was as strong as the consumption of gasoline.
Oil prices were held back earlier in the week after a new surge in Covid cases from the Delta variant of the virus posed headwinds for the market.
While investor risk appetite in oil has grown in recent days, allowing bulls to regain control of the market, the emergence of new Covid threats in the U.S. and elsewhere make the path forward more challenging compared with earlier in the year when crude prices rose almost without stop week after week.
See also:
Natural Gas (Hellenic Shipping News)
Natural gas production to be flat, but greener, higher value: EQT
Executives at EQT, the largest natural gas producer in the US, plan to capture value by producing greener gas, not necessarily more gas, they said during a second quarter earnings call July 29.
EQT CEO Toby Rice confirmed in analyst Q&A that the company will keep production volumes flat for the next three to four years, caveating that the establishment of a long-term forward curve above $3/MMBtu could bring about some minor production increases. The company produced approximately 5.6 Bcfe/d of natural gas and liquids in the second quarter, according to a July 28 investor presentation deck.
“I think you compare [chasing shorter-term price signals] versus the long-term value opportunity that is getting our assets valued at a gas price that’s north of $3,” Rice said.
“When you compare the short-term gains you can get from accelerated activity or the alternative, we’ll choose the alternative,” Rice added.
The company seeks to position itself to benefit from a lower-carbon future, with planned investments in emissions reduction technology and responsibly sourced gas certification expected to increase its competitiveness.
EQT has already inked several deals to sell its certified low methane emissions gas, also known as RSG, at a premium, according to CFO David Khani.
RSG remains a nascent market and has yet to trade formally on an exchange, with all deals so far transacted bilaterally.
Rice said that while premiums for RSG are “in the single digits”, the company expects the value to increase as the market matures.
One barrier to greater demand for this new product has been the lack of standardization in both definition and technology. EQT’s recent decision to join the United Nations’ multilateral initiative, Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0, was cited by executives as part of the company’s efforts to drive standardization and increase transparency for potential buyers.
ESG investment
On June 30, EQT announced $75 million in ESG and new venture spending to be spread over the next 5 years. One of the budget’s key initiatives is a $20 million project to replace the company’s natural gas-powered pneumatic devices by 2023, which is expected to cut GHG emissions by half.
EQT has contracted with multiple emissions monitoring and certification firms during the first half of the year to certify the company’s Appalachia gas production, including Project Canary, MiQ and Equitable Origin.
Beyond the anticipated monetization of the company’s lower emissions production profile, executives highlighted the cost-savings benefits to its ESG initiatives.
By moving to electrically powered hydraulic fracturing equipment (also known as e-fleets), eliminating an estimated 25 million gallons of diesel consumption annually, Rice said the company insulates itself from both the cost of diesel and associated risk of higher diesel prices.
Consolidation
Part of EQT’s strategic bet on RSG has been its voracious acquisition of Appalachia acreage.
EQT has had an active last year of M&A activity, most recently acquiring gas producer Alta Resources. The Alta acquisition added around 300,000 acres of Marcellus production to EQT’s portfolio, 300 miles of midstream gathering systems, and around 1 Bcf/d of dry gas production.
EQT also acquired Chevron’s Appalachia assets in late 2020, which added acreage in southwest Pennsylvania, the West Virginia Panhandle, and Ohio.
Appalachia has the lowest methane intensity profile nationally, according to US Environmental Protection Agency data.
Source: Platts
.
