Written by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.04%
U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare, Utilities and Telecoms sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.04% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.16%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.04%.
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The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM), which rose 1.28% or 3.17 points to trade at 251.56 at the close. Meanwhile, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) added 1.05% or 3.04 points to end at 292.85 and Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) was up 1.00% or 1.79 points to 181.08 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), which fell 1.56% or 3.72 points to trade at 234.46 at the close. American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) declined 1.45% or 2.44 points to end at 166.08 and JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) was down 1.12% or 1.81 points to 159.98.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) which rose 7.45% to 74.02, Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) which was up 3.80% to settle at 110.55 and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN) which gained 2.76% to close at 624.79.
The worst performers were APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) which was down 5.50% to 17.88 in late trade, Diamondback Energy Inc (NASDAQ:FANG) which lost 4.70% to settle at 75.64 and HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ) which was down 4.57% to 29.01 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Greenvision Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:GRNV) which rose 59.34% to 12.97, PharmaCyte Biotech Inc (NASDAQ:PMCB) which was up 43.42% to settle at 3.2700 and Flora Growth Corp (NASDAQ:FLGC) which gained 35.89% to close at 17.190.
The worst performers were Sesen Bio Inc (NASDAQ:SESN) which was down 57.03% to 2.110 in late trade, Soc Telemed Inc (NASDAQ:TLMD) which lost 33.73% to settle at 2.750 and Duos Technologies Group Inc (NASDAQ:DUOT) which was down 28.79% to 6.06 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1758 to 1472 and 150 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2444 fell and 1124 advanced, while 155 ended unchanged.
Shares in eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) rose to all time highs; rising 7.45% or 5.13 to 74.02. Shares in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) rose to all time highs; up 1.05% or 3.04 to 292.85. Shares in Greenvision Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:GRNV) rose to all time highs; up 59.34% or 4.83 to 12.97. Shares in Soc Telemed Inc (NASDAQ:TLMD) fell to all time lows; falling 33.73% or 1.400 to 2.750. Shares in Flora Growth Corp (NASDAQ:FLGC) rose to all time highs; gaining 35.89% or 4.540 to 17.190.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.03% to 15.43 a new 1-month low.
Gold Futures for December delivery was up 1.60% or 28.10 to $1779.90 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September fell 1.74% or 1.20 to hit $67.89 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract fell 1.70% or 1.21 to trade at $70.10 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.58% to 1.1796, while USD/JPY fell 0.72% to 109.58.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.56% at 92.517.
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The dollar is on course for weekly loss Friday, pressured by a sharp decline in yields, but bets on the greenback have swelled to more than five-month highs as investors believe that the Federal Reserve is on course to rein in loose monetary policy measures by year-end.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.57% to 92.51.
The value of the net long dollar position rose to $3.08 billion in the week ended Aug. 10, from $2.11 billion the prior week, according to data from CFTC and Reuters. That was the highest level since early March.
The data came just as fresh worries emerge about the threat that surges in cases pose to the economic recovery.
The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment index slumped to a reading of 70.2 in the preliminary August survey from 81.2 in July, the weakest reading since December 2011.
“The most jarring and unexpected manifestation of the Delta variant was the collapse in the University of Michigan consumer sentiment,” Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) said.
The dollar retreated, paced by a drop in Treasury yields, with investors seemingly worried that surging Covid-19 threaten to slow the recovery.
“It’s hard to believe that we’re at it again, but Covid is back in full force and once again threatens to derail economic activity,” Jefferies said in a note.
But fresh worries about Covid-19 weren’t enough to knock the Federal Reserve off the tapering, with some on Wall Street expecting the U.S. central bank to trim its $120 billion monthly purchases by year-end.
“Rising concerns over the Delta variant and increased angst around inflation are not enough to slow the Fed’s march toward tapering, where Fedspeak ramped up this week regarding the timing of an announcement,” Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) said. “Indications of continued labor market progress in our MSBCI, updated forecasts, and nascent signs of cooling inflation we think keep the FOMC on track to announce the taper at its December meeting.”
With next week set to bring the further commentary from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, and the minutes of the Fed’s July meeting, investors appear to be betting on further clues from the central bank on tapering.
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- Dollar Extends Gains Ahead of U.S. CPI Release (Wednesday)
Gold finished with a weekly gain of 1%, after the meltdown that took it to sub-$1,700 levels.
But the recovery was far from the fabled likes of a phoenix rising from its ashes. As the dust settled on Friday’s trade, longs in the market were still short of recapturing the key $1,800 level that would be prerequisite to the yellow metal regaining some bullish shine.
Gold’s front-month gold on New York’s Comex settled the day up $26.40, or 1.5%, at $1,778.20 an ounce.
It was a comeback of sorts for the benchmark gold futures contract that just on Monday settled at its lowest since March 31, at $1,726.50. Also, prior to the start of this week’s U.S. session, the front-month contract plunged to $1,672.80 in Asian trading in what has largely been characterized as a “flash-crash”.
Analysts acknowledged the rebound but noted that gold was stuck now in a $1,740-$1,760 range since and said it needed to do more to return to a bullish track.
“If it can break above here, it would be quite the turnaround but I’m not convinced (that) would be sustainable,” said Craig Erlam, analyst at New York’s OANDA.
Erlam also said there could be fresh trouble for gold longs as the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole symposium neared, saying: “I’d be surprised to see any significant gains ahead of the event.”
The Jackson Hole gathering in Wyoming is an annual retreat for the Fed to examine key strategies for U.S. monetary policy. There is high speculation that this year’s event, scheduled between Aug 26 and 28, will discuss the tapering of the $120 billion in monthly stimulus that the central bank has been providing the economy since the Covid outbreak of March 2020.
Speculation about a stimulus taper has heightened since last week’s upbeat U.S. jobs report for July that sent the dollar and U.S. U.S. bond yields rallying, crushing gold.
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 vaccine efficiencies were announced.
After initially bottoming out at under $1,675, gold appeared to break its dark spell with a bounce back to $1,905 in May. From there, it saw renewed short-selling that took it back and forth between $1,700 and $1,800 for a while before last week’s move toward $1,600.
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Another week, and the story in oil is hardly any better.
U.S. crude scraped together a tiny gain for the week, while Brent couldn’t even manage that.
The insistent drone of the Covid narrative, via the Delta variant, and a dismal U.S. consumer reading for August put paid to any comeback by crude prices on Friday.
New York-traded West Texas Intermediate crude, the benchmark for U.S. oil, settled down 65 cents, or 0.9%, at $68.44 per barrel. For the week, it rose 0.2% – barely a makeup for last week’s 7.7% plunge, which was its sharpest since October 2020.
London-traded Brent, the global benchmark for oil, settled down 72 cents, or 1%, at $70.59. For the week, Brent fell 0.2%, after last week’s 7.4% drop.
Oil “is in a bit of a no-mans-land and it could take a few days to gather steam for another run,” Phil Flynn, analyst at Chicago’s Price Futures Group, said. “If Covid concerns ease a bit then reports of falling global oil inventories should ignite another rally.”
Flynn’s remarks came after the watchdog for western oil consumers warned on Thursday that Covid’s Delta variant will slow down demand growth for energy in the second half of the year.
The outlook by the IEA, or International Energy Agency, came on the same day that OPEC, or the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, issued its for oil demand growth forecast for 2021 and 2022. OPEC kept its forecast unchanged despite the risk of the Delta variant.
The IEA, on its part, put last month’s demand slump for oil at 120,000 bpd, or barrels per day. It also predicted growth to be half a million bpd lower in the second half than it had originally estimated in July.
Adding to the pessimism of the IEA, the University of Michigan said on Friday its closely-followed U.S. Consumer Sentiment Index plunged to a decade low in August on concerns about another economic slowdown due to the Delta variant.
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Natural Gas (Hellenic Shipping News)
US working natural gas volumes in underground storage rise 49 Bcf: EIA
US working gas storage volumes increased by 49 Bcf for the week ended Aug. 6, slightly more than what the market expected as the NYMEX Henry Hub winter strip declined following the announcement.
The build brought the US storage total to 2.776 Tcf, the US Energy Information Administration reported Aug. 12.
The injection was more than the 44 Bcf addition expected by an S&P Global Platts’ survey of analysts. Responses to the survey ranged from injections of 38 Bcf to 56 Bcf. The storage build was more than the five-year average build of 42 Bcf but less than the 55 Bcf injection in the corresponding week of last year. The Platts Analytics’ supply and demand model proved closest at 47 Bcf. The analysts’ survey has proved close to the mark over the past four weeks, missing the EIA estimate by an average of 4.5 Bcf.
US storage volumes now stand 548 Bcf, or 16.5%, less than the year-ago level of 3.324 Tcf and 178 Bcf, or 6%, below the five-year average of 2.954 Tcf.
The injection was much stronger than 13 Bcf added the week prior. Supplies were flat on the week with offsetting changes in production and imports from Canada, according to Platts Analytics. Downstream, however, total demand fell by 4.5 Bcf/d, driven mainly by a 4.3 Bcf/d decline in gas-fired power demand week on week.
US power burns tumbled more than 5 Bcf/d year on year in July, because of higher natural gas prices and milder weather. Population-weighted temperatures have come in roughly one degree below the 10-year normal, while prices have tracked $2/MMBtu higher this July versus last.
The NYMEX Henry Hub September contract slipped 14 cents to $3.91/MMBtu during trading Aug. 12. The winter strip, November through March, shed 16 cents to averaged $4.03/MMBtu, representing a net decline of 20 cents from one week prior. This kept the seasonal price spread flat at roughly 10 cents, which has been exceedingly small this summer to date. Spreads from this summer to next winter are now trading slightly above 10 cents/MMBtu, still not enough to clear storage cycling costs and prioritizing spot gas over future reliability in the event of a cold winter.
Platts Analytics’ supply and demand model currently forecasts a 35 Bcf injection for the week ending Aug. 13, which would measure 7 Bcf less than the five-year average.
Fundamentals during the week in progress have seen a tightening compared with the previous week. Following recovery from last week’s fall in gas-fired power generation, total demand increased by 1.2 Bcf/d on the week as power burn ramped back up. LNG export demand offset some of those gains, falling 700 MMcf/d compared with the week ended Aug. 6.
Source: Platts
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US oil, gas rig count jumps 14 to 617 on week as companies sound upbeat note (Hellenic Shipping News)
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