U.S. stock market finish May with the biggest monthly gain since February
US stocks ended in a mixed mode on Friday, 30 May 2014. Friday's trading on Wall Street was lackluster as investors were cautious after disappointing reports on personal income, spending and consumer sentiment. But the U.S. stock market finished May with the biggest monthly gain since February as the main benchmarks ended the week higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record level, adding 18.37 points, or 0.1%, to 16,717.11. The blue-chip index gained 0.7% over the week and rose 0.8% over the month. The Nasdaq Composite ended the day down 5.33 points, or 0.1%, at 4,242.62, but it still recorded a 1.4% over the past week. A 3.1% gain over the past month was the first monthly advance in 3 months. S&P 500 closed 3.44 points, or 0.2%, higher at 1,923.48. The measure added 1.2% over the past week and is 2.1% higher over the past month.
The ten economic sectors had a mixed finish. Consumer staples, health care, telecom services and utilities ended higher.
In the tech sector, Apple shed 0.4%, but it is worth mentioning the decline followed a big rally over the past two weeks. Despite Friday's loss, the largest tech stock surged 7.3% in May. Outside of Apple, Cisco Systems and Oracle also contributed to the underperformance of the Nasdaq.
Among economic data expected at Wall Street on Friday, Personal Income increased an in-line 0.3% in April, but consumption fell 0.1% against the 0.2% increase that was expected by the consensus. Once again, the report failed to show any pent-up demand resulting from the severe winter weather. Core PCE prices rose 0.2%, as expected.
The Chicago PMI increased to 65.5 in May from 63.0 in April. The consensus expected the Chicago PMI to fall to 60.3. New order levels accelerated as the related index increased to 70.2 in May from 68.7 in April. That did not translate into stronger production as the index fell to 64.4 in May from 70.5. Instead, much of the new orders growth was marketed for backlogs as that index increased to 61.4 from 54.9. The strength of the backlogs index should support elevated production levels.
The final reading for the May University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index increased to 81.9 from 81.8 in the preliminary reading. Consumer sentiment is still down from an 84.1 reading in April. The consensus expected the Consumer Sentiment Index to fall to 81.4. The Current Conditions Index fell to 94.5 in the final May reading from 95.1 in the preliminary reading. The Consumer Expectations Index increased to 73.7 from 73.2.
Bullion prices ended lower on Friay, 30 May 2014. Gold prices on Friday logged their lowest settlement in four months and suffered from their worst monthly decline this year as recent gains in equities lured investors away from the precious metal. Traders also looked at the latest U.S. economic data for guidance on the outlook for metals demand.
August gold fell $11.10, or 0.9%, to settle at $1,246 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, marking a fifth straight session loss. They lost 3.5% for the week and 3.9% for the month, their biggest weekly and monthly declines of this year. Silver prices also suffered a weekly loss of 3.8% and monthly decline of 2.5%. July silver shed 33 cents, or 1.8%, to end at $18.68 an ounce on Friday.
Crude oil futures settled lower on Friday, 30 May 2014 at Nymex to tally their biggest weekly loss in five weeks as traders continued to digest U.S. inventory data and gauge the outlook for energy demand against a backdrop of mixed economic data.
July crude fell 87 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $102.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Tracking the most-active contracts, prices lost 1.6% for the week, but rose 3% on the month.
Indian ADRs closed mixed on Friday. Among banks, HDFC Bank fell 1.87% to $45.03 and ICICI Bank declined 2.17% to $49.67 per ADR. In the technology space, Infosys gained 1.34% to $51.43 while Wipro slipped 0.98% to $11.14. Among others, Tata Motors dropped 1.14% to $37.24 whereas Dr Reddy's Laboratories rose 2.62% to $41.11.
On Monday, the ISM Index for May and April Construction Spending will be reported at 10:00 ET.
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