Health care paced gains and materials led losses on a sectoral basis
U.S. stocks finished near unchanged mark but with slight gains on Friday, 26 July 2013 lifting the Dow industrials to a fifth weekly gain, after Wall Street dwelled through earnings reports that included a steep profit drop for Expedia and a better-than-expected profit from Starbucks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 3.22 points to 15,558.83, giving the blue-chip index a 0.1% weekly gain, its fifth straight. The S&P 500 index added 1.40 points on Friday, or 0.1%, to 1,691.65. The Nasdaq Composite added 7.98 points on Friday, or 0.2%, to 3,613.16.
Health care paced gains and materials led losses among its 10 major industry groups. The index is up nearly 19% for the year.
Sellers kept control of things through the first 90 minutes of trading, but then ceded their guiding hand just as suddenly to buyers for the rest of the day as the major averages trended higher for the remainder of the session. There wasn't a specific news catalyst for the turnaround. Buyers simply stepped up to stop the bleeding.
There was a single economic release on Friday and it was the final reading for the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment report for July. It was revised up to 85.1 from 83.9. That was better than the consensus estimate of 84.1.
Investors looked ahead to a busy week of central-bank meetings as well as economic data. The U.S. Federal Reserve will announce its policy decision on Wednesday, as will the European Central Bank and Bank of England on Thursday. On Friday, the U.S. Labor Department will release its widely watched monthly jobs report.
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Crude Oil futures closed at a two-week low on Friday, 26 July 2013 as they suffered their first weekly loss in five weeks amid concerns about a slowdown in Chinese growth. The market saw little support from a better-than-expected reading on U.S. consumer sentiment and a weaker dollar.
Crude oil for September delivery declined 79 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $104.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after trading as low as $103.90. For the week, the contract lost 2.9% in value.
Bullions ended lower on Friday, 26 July 2013. Gold prices fell on Friday, giving back much of the previous session's climb but scoring their third straight weekly gain as markets readied for busy week of central bank meetings.
Gold for December delivery shed $7.60, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,321.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold for August delivery fell $7.30, or 0.6%, end at $1,321.50 an ounce. Prices gained 2.2% for the week. Silver was among the bigger decliners on Comex. The September contract dropped 38 cents, or 1.9%, to end at $19.77 an ounce, but prices clung to a gain of 1.6% for the week.
Decliners remained just ahead of advancers on the New York Stock Exchange, where 597 million shares traded. Composite volume approached 2.7 billion.
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