Telecom shares led the gainers, followed by real estate and technology sectors
U.S. stocks advanced tepidly on Tuesday, 20 December 2016 with investors somewhat reluctant to make big bets in a preholiday week while the main benchmarks were sitting near all-time highs set last week. The gains were led by a rally in bank stocks, though the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished just below the psychologically important 20,000 level. Both the Dow and Nasdaq Composite Index closed at fresh all-time highs, with the S&P 500 index falling just short of its own record.
The Dow climbed 90.95 points, or 0.5%, to 19,974.14. The S&P 500 index closed up 4.46 points, or 0.2% at 2,262.53, with eight of the 11 main sectors finishing in positive territory. The Nasdaq Composite Index ended the session higher, up 20.28 points, or 0.4% to 5,457.44.
Telecom shares led the gainers, followed by real estate and technology sectors. Energy shares, which are among the best performers this year, pulled back. Nike and Goldman Sachs Group led the blue-chip benchmark.
After a mild knee-jerk reaction to news of the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey, markets resumed their climb to close modestly higher.
Trading volumes were thinner than usual, with the New York Stock Exchange reporting volume at 60% of the 30-year average.
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On the M&A front, Fred's agreed to acquire 865 Rite Aid stores for $950 million in cash. The transaction more than doubled Fred's store footprint, sending its shares higher by 81.1%.
The ICE U.S. dollar index which compares the greenback against a half-dozen rivals, rose 0.1% to 103.24, after touching an intraday high of 103.65. Gains left the index on track to close at its highest since December 2002.
Bullion prices ended in a mixed mode on Tuesday, 20 December 2016. Gold returned to its losing ways on Tuesday, settling lower as a leading dollar index revived its run to fresh 14-year highs. Silver settled higher. Because a stronger greenback makes dollar-priced gold less attractive to investors using other currencies, gold for February delivery settled down $9.10, or 0.8%, to $1,133.60 an ounce. Despite the recent weakness, gold and silver are poised for their first yearly gains since 2012. Gold is headed for a roughly 6% gain for 2016.
March silver settled up 2.8 cents, or 0.2%, at $16.12 an ounce, after trading lower earlier in the session. Silver looks ready to post its largest yearly advance since 2010, up more than 16% so far after a loss of almost 12% in 2015. The decline for futures for yellow metal brought the contract below last week's settlement of $1,129.80, the lowest since early February. Earlier in the session, gold hit an intraday low of $1,127.30 an ounce.
Crude-oil prices finished higher on Tuesday, 20 December 2016 at Nymex scoring a third straight session of gains, ahead of weekly supply updates on U.S. inventories. Trading volume has been light in the run-up to seasonal holidays in December.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil for February delivery, the most-active contract, rose 24 cents, or 0.5%, higher to settle at $53.30 a barrel. The January contract which expires Tuesday, finished up 11 cents, or 0.2%, at $52.23 a barrel. February Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange added 43 cents, or 0.8%, to close at $55.35 a barrel. The contract has been up seven of the last nine trading sessions.
The Treasury market ended on a mostly lower note with the 10-yr yield rising two basis points to 2.56% while the 2-yr yield held unchanged at 1.22%.
Investor participation was above average with nearly 970 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.
Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be released at 7:00 ET while November Existing Home Sales (consensus 5.50M) will be reported at 10:00 ET.
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