Nasdaq closes at record high though
U.S. stocks notched meager gains on Thursday, 08 June 2017 but the Nasdaq closed at a record after former FBI Director James Comey's appearance in front of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee concluded without any significant revelations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 8.84 points to finish, less than 0.1%, at 21,182.53. It hit an intraday record of 21,265.69 on strong gains in Caterpillar and Goldman Sachs. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 24.38 points, or 0.4%, to end at 6,321.76 after setting an intraday record of 6,324.06. The S&P 500 index added 0.65 point to close at 2,433.79.
Financials rallied while utilities were the biggest decliners.
Investors had a slew of headlines to digest on Thursday as former FBI Director James Comey testified in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, the European Central Bank announced its latest policy decision, and the Brits headed to the ballot box.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index which tracks the buck against a basket of six rivals, was up 0.2%. Strength in the dollar can make gold and other commodities pegged to the currency more expensive to buyers using other monetary units, presumably lowering their demand.
In Europe, the ECB decided to leave interest rates unchanged, as expected, however, the central bank did drop language from its policy statement that suggested rates could be cut further. In addition, ECB President Mario Draghi acknowledged that risks to the outlook are now broadly balanced, but noted that inflation remains low and has yet to show a convincing pickup.
Economic data at Wall Street showed that the latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 245,000 while the consensus expected a reading of 240,000. Today's tally was below the revised prior week count of 255,000 (from 248,000). As for continuing claims, they declined to 1.917 million from the revised count of 1.919 million (from 1.915 million). The key takeaway from the report is that the level of initial claims remains consistent with a tight labor market.
Bullion prices ended sharply lower on Thursday, 08 June 2017. Gold prices suffered a sharp decline on Thursday, erasing a gain for the week as the euro weakened, providing support for the dollar, in the wake of the European Central Bank's monetary-policy meeting. The yellow metal failed to find support from former Federal Bureau of Investigation boss James Comey's testimony before a Senate panel amid an investigation into alleged Russian efforts to interfere in last year's presidential race. Investors were also awaiting the outcome of the U.K.'s snap general election.
August gold fell $13.70, or 1.1%, to settle at $1,279.50 an ouncethe lowest finish in a week. Thursday's loss erased what would have been a gain for the week. Prices have now lost 70 cents week to date. Meanwhile, July silver fell 20.6 cents, or 1.2%, at $17.414 an ounce in Thursday trading.
Oil prices ended with a minor loss on Thursday, 08 June 2017 holding ground at their lowest level in a month, as a weekly decline in U.S. crude production helped to temper pressure from a surprise weekly rise in U.S. supplies.
U.S. government data released Wednesday revealed a weekly decline for U.S. production in the lower 48 states for the first time this year, suggesting a slowdown in domestic output. But an unexpected rise in U.S. crude stocks last week intensified concerns that the continuing production cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia aren't effectively reducing the glut of oil that has suppressed oil prices for over two years.
Economic data will be light once again tomorrow with April Wholesale Inventories (consensus -0.1%) being the only item on the docket. The report will cross the wires at 10:00 ET.
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