Consumer staples sector was the strongest performing sector of the day
U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday, 08 June 2018 with major indexes posting their strongest week in months as investors brushed aside tensions between the U.S. and major allies as a meeting of leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations got under way in Canada.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 75.12 points to 25,316.53, a gain of 0.3%. The average posted its third straight positive session, and closed at its highest level since March. The S&P 500 rose 8.66 points to 2,779.03, a gain of 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 10.44 points to 7,645.51, a rise of roughly 0.1%.
For the week, the Dow advanced 2.8%, its biggest weekly gain since March. The S&P gained 1.6% and the Nasdaq rose 1.2%. Both posted their third straight weekly gain.
The energy and utilities sectors were the only groups to finish Friday in the red, but the top-weighted information technology group also lagged, closing just a tick above its unchanged mark. Consumer staples were by far the strongest performing sector of the day. Within the tech space, Apple lost 0.9% following reports that it has asked its supply chain to prepare around 20% fewer components for iPhones debuting in the second half of 2018, and Broadcom dropped 2.5% despite reporting better-than-expected quarterly results on Thursday evening.
Trading was relatively quiet on Friday as G-7 leaders gathered in Canada for a two-day summit where trade issues will be in focus. Hostilities between U.S. President Donald Trump and leaders of two close alliesCanada and Franceintensified ahead of the meeting.
Among stocks under focus, General Electric rose 1.1% after the industrial conglomerate said its quarterly dividend would remain at 12 cents a share. Investors have recently been worried that the payout could be vulnerable to another cut, after having recently been halved. Procter & Gamble rose 1.9% while Coca-Cola was up 1.2%.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the dollar against a half-dozen major currencies, traded 0.2% higher. For the week, the dollar gauge was down 0.4%, but trading 3.8% higher for the quarter.
Reviewing Friday's economic data, it was limited to Wholesale Inventories for April. April Wholesale Inventories ticked up 0.1% (consensus +0.2%). The March reading was revised to +0.2% from +0.3%. The key takeaway from the report is that sales growth outpaced inventories growth, which is a positive dynamic that can eventually help wholesalers regain pricing power if it persists.
Elsewhere, U.S. Treasuries finished Friday on a flattish note, with the yield on the benchmark 10-yr note ticking up one basis point to 2.94%.
Bullion prices ended lower at Comex on Friday, 08 June 2018. Gold futures finished in the red on Friday as the dollar showed strength, but intensifying global trade disputes limited losses for bullion, allowing the commodity to hold onto a gain for the week.
August gold edged down by 30 cents to settle at $1,302.70 an ounce. The metal held retained a modest weekly return of about 0.3%. July silver lost 0.4% to $16.741 an ounce, with a weekly rise of 1.8%.
Global trade disputes flared up as a meeting of leaders from the Group of Seven industrialized nations got under way in Canada.
Oil futures settled lower on Friday, 08 June 2018 and registered a slight weekly decline as energy investors weighed potential outcomes for a meeting of major oil producers later this month against persistent concerns about crude supply from Iran and Venezuela.
U.S. benchmark July West Texas Intermediate crude lost 21 cents, or 0.3%, to end at $65.74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, with the commodity logging a weekly loss of 0.1% based on Friday's close for WTI. That marks the third weekly decline in a row. August Brent crude, the global benchmark, shed 86 cents, or 1.1%, to $76.46 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange, finishing down 0.4% for the week. Brent has posted weekly drops in two of the past three weeks.
Investors will not receive any economic data on Monday, 11 June 2018.
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