Financials, industrials and energy sectors lead the rally
U.S. stocks closed higher on Thursday, 30 March 2017 as financial shares rallied following a positive reading of economic growth and the tech-heavy Nasdaq returned to finish in record territory after a month-long wait.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 69.17 points, or 0.3%, at 20,728.49. gainers. The S&P 500 index closed up 6.93 points, or 0.3%, at 2,368.06, with seven out of the index's 11 sectors finishing higher, led by gains in the financials, energy and industrial sectors.
The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 16.80 points, or 0.3%, to close at a record 5,914.34 its first record closing since March 1, and the 21st of the year as it logged its fifth straight session of gains.
The S&P 500 moved into positive territory for March, up 0.2%, while the Dow remains down 0.4% for the month. The Nasdaq is up 1.5% in March.
Earlier, the government said the U.S. economy, as measured by gross domestic product, expanded at a 2.1% annualized pace in the fourth quarter, slightly faster than the previously reported 1.9% rate. Separately, jobless claims fell by 3,000 to 258,000 in the latest week, near their lowest level in decades.
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The data helped support the gain in financial stocks, which are closely correlated to the pace of economic growth.
Muted trading has been the norm since Friday, when the Republican-led health-care bill was pulled from the House floor after the White House was unable to overcome resistance from a conservative GOP faction, the House Freedom Caucus. The failure raised questions about the Trump administration's ability to pass its economic agenda, which had been seen as market-friendly.
Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester forecast GDP growth above 2% in 2017, and sees a sustained return to 2% inflation over the next year or so. Mester also expects the Fed to raise interest rates again this year, but didn't say how many times might be likely. Currently, market participants anticipate three or four hikes in total over 2017.
Oil prices rose for a third straight session on Thursday, 30 March 2017 with U.S. benchmark crude topping $50 a barrel to finish at a more than three-week high. Larger-than-expected drawdowns in U.S. petroleum-product stockpiles and gains in refinery activity raised expectations of stronger demand for crude. Growing expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would agree to extend its production-cut agreement also contributed to oil's price climb. Natural-gas prices, meanwhile, extended earlier declines after a weekly decline in domestic inventories of the fuel was in line with market expectations.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery added 84 cents, or 1.7%, to settle at $50.35 a barrel. May Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange rose 54 cents, or 1%, to $52.96, with the contract set to expire at Friday's settlement.
Bullion prices settled lower on Thursday, 30 March 2017. Gold prices fell adding to a monthly loss, as the U.S. dollar regained its footing above a key technical level and equities traded mostly higher, drawing some investor attention away from the precious metal.
June gold which is now the most-active contract, fell $8.80, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,248 an ounce. The June contract, which ended flat on Tuesday and lost roughly 0.2% on Wednesday, marked its lowest settlement since March 20. For the month, gold futures traded about 0.7% lower, but have gained 8.1% year to date. May silver ended at $18.206 an ounce, down 4.6 cents, or 0.3%.
The retreat for gold on Thursday came as the dollar, measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index climbed back above 100 after previously slipping below that level amid growing doubts about President Donald Trump's ability to implement dollar-boosting fiscal policies. The euro also weakened after a news report said European Central Bank officials had been alarmed by the market reaction to its March policy meeting.
A stronger dollar can weigh on commodities priced in the currency, making them less attractive to purchasers using other monetary units. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index was up 0.4% at 100.37, on track for a 0.6% gain this week.
Tomorrow, investors will receive a slew of economic reports, including February Personal Income (consensus 0.4%), Personal Spending (consensus 0.2%), and PCE Price Index (consensus 0.1%) at 8:30 ET, March Chicago PMI (consensus 55.8) at 9:45 ET, and the final University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment reading (consensus 97.6) at 10:00 ET.
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