All three indices post good weekly gains
U.S. stocks ended essentially unchanged on Friday, 14 September 2018 though slight gains were enough to give the S&P 500 its fifth straight positive session, while all three major indexes posted solid weekly gains. Indexes moved between slightly positive and modestly negative territory throughout the session, following a report that President Donald Trump still wants to impose tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods, the latest sign that the trade jitters will continue to hang over financial markets. While stocks initially sold off on the news, they subsequently rebounded, in keeping with their recent pattern.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 8.68 points to 26,154.67 while S&P 500 index eked out a gain of 0.8 point to finish at 2,904.98. Both rose less than 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 3.67 points to 8,010.04, a decline of less than 0.1%.
For the week, the Dow rose 0.9%, its fourth positive week of the past five. The S&P 500 rose 1.2% and the Nasdaq posted a gain of 1.4% for the week, its third positive week of the past four.
Equities started the day just above last session's closing levels, but relative weakness in a handful of rate-sensitive sectors and a mixed showing from other groups kept the market near its unchanged level. The S&P 500 was on the verge of climbing to a fresh high around noon, but a report, indicating that President Trump is seeking to impose tariffs on $200 billion worth of imports from China despite the recent efforts to revive trade talks, sent the broader market to a session low.
The buck moved up Friday, pressuring prices for dollar-denominated gold, after data showed that U.S. industrial production rose by a bigger-than-expected 0.4% in August. That was the third monthly increase. Consumer sentiment in September climbed to 100.8 from 96.2 in August.
As measured by the U.S. ICE Dollar Index, a gauge of the buck against a half-dozen currencies, edged up 0.4% to 94.928 in Friday trade.
The U.S. and China trade war will be closely looked at next week, with the Chinese economy seeing some effects from the dispute
Economic data on Friday showed that U.S. retailers posted the weakest sales in August in six months, as only an increase in purchases at gas stations prevented an outright decline. However, the soft patch in spending is seen as unlikely to last. Retail sales rose a scant 0.1% in August.
Meanwhile, the import price index sank 0.6% in August, marking the second straight month and the biggest drop in 2 years for the cost of goods imported into the country, largely reflecting lower oil prices. A report on industrial production for August showed a rise of 0.4%, the Federal Reserve reported, representing the third monthly increase.
Separately, the confidence of Americans in the U.S. economy and their own well-being rose toward the end of summer and stood near a 14-year high. Business inventories rose 0.6% in July.
Bullion prices ended lower at Comex on Friday, 14 September 2018. Gold futures ended lower on Friday as some upbeat U.S. economic data provided support for the dollar, but carved out a modest rise for the week.
December gold fell $7.10, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,201.10 an ounce, with the precious metal booking a weekly rise of 70 cents from the week-ago finish of $1,200.40. Prices had suffered losses over the previous two weeks.
December silver fell 0.7% to $14.142 an ounce. That was the lowest settlement for a most-active contract since January 2016. The metal lost 0.2% for the week.
Crude oil futures ended higher on Friday, 14 September 2018 with the U.S. benchmark building on its gain for the week as the U.S. has reportedly ratcheted up pressure on countries to comply with upcoming sanctions on Iranian oil.
Traders also continued to watch for any impact on the energy market from Hurricane Florence and looked to potential new U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, which could hurt demand for oil.
October futures on West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, rose by 40 cents, or 0.6%, to end at $68.99 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract remains below the $70.37 mark hit earlier this week, the highest settlement since July 20. The contract logged a 1.8% weekly gain.
Treasuries ended the day with losses, though intraday action saw the complex climb off mid-morning lows. The 10-yr yield rose three basis points to 2.99% after approaching its August high (3.02%) in early trade.
Investor participation was fairly consistent with the past two sessions as 762 million shares changed hands at the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Monday's economic data will be limited to the 8:30 ET release of the Empire Manufacturing report for September (consensus 23.0).
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