US close: Gains for defensives send Wall Street to fresh record highs
All four of Wall Street´s main stock market indices notched up fresh record highs in a shortened session following the Thanksgiving break, although it was defensive issues that paced the advance.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.36% or 68.96 points to 19,152.14 points, the S&P 500 leapt 0.39% or 8.63 points to end at 2,213.35 points, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.34% to 5,398.92 points, although the day´s dealings transpired amid very low trading volumes.
The best performing industrial groups were: Water (2.48%), Gas distribution (1.82%) and Utilities (1.42%), even as benchmark 10-year US Tresury note yields nudged higher by one basis point to 2.36%, although they did close near their lows for the day.
Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex, said: “weighed down by turkey, US investors couldn’t really bring much to the table this Friday, bar another smashed ceiling for the Dow Jones.
“The Dow now sits just under 19,150, a fresh record high that marks a 1,200 point rise since the day the election results were announced.
"In, and of itself, that is astonishing, the fact it comes following the biggest political shock in decades and before a near certain rate hike from the Federal Reserve is something else entirely."
In commodity markets, gold on Comex declined a further 0.53% to $1,186.10 per troy ounce.
Oil prices went into reverse as uncertainty ticked up in the run-up to the 30 November OPEC meeting where the cartel is expected to agree on a production cut.
Reuters reported that Saudi had told OPEC it would not attend a technical meeting with non-member producing countries scheduled for 28 November, indicating a more effective approach would be if the cartel´s members first reached an understanding among themselves.
Brent crude was down 4.23% to $47.00 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate skidded 4.17% to $45.96.
The US spot dollar index meanwhile fell back 0.27% to 101.42.
Fed gets 'green light', Markit says
On the data front, October wholesale inventories were estimated at an end-of-month seasonally adjusted level of $586.9bn, which was down 0.4% from September and fell 0.5% from October 2015. Analysts had expected a 0.3% rise.
Markit’s services purchasing managers’ index slipped to 54.7 in November from 54.8 October. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion.
Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, said: “The November PMI surveys provide the first snapshot of US business conditions in the wake of the surprise election result, and show a reassuring picture of sustained solid economic expansion and hiring.
“With businesses in the vast service sector also showing improved confidence about the year ahead as election uncertainty cleared, the surveys give a clear green light for the Fed to hike interest rates in December.”
Switzerland on Healthcare giant´s Black Friday list
As Black Friday got underway, shares in Amazon, Alibaba and Walmart jumped as half of sales are expected to occur online.
Shares in Johnson & Johnson edged higher even after it confirmed it had made a takeover bid for Swiss drug maker Actelion.
Dow Jones - Risers
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $30.07 1.21%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $41.53 1.00%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $83.46 0.94%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $114.13 0.94%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $70.97 0.93%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $62.21 0.92%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $50.67 0.88%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $31.69 0.86%
3M Co. (MMM) $173.49 0.72%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $163.14 0.72%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $152.81 -0.48%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $211.38 -0.44%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $95.81 -0.38%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $78.83 -0.04%
American Express Co. (AXP) $72.86 -0.03%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $111.00 0.00%
Boeing Co. (BA) $150.04 0.20%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $60.53 0.22%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $87.12 0.23%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $131.57 0.27%
S&P 500 - Risers
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $30.59 2.74%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $53.25 2.68%
Amer Water Works (AWK) $74.36 2.58%
AES Corp. (AES) $11.63 2.56%
NiSource Inc. (NI) $22.14 2.31%
Rockwell Collins Inc. (COL) $92.96 2.27%
CMS Energy Corp. (CMS) $40.60 2.22%
HP Inc (HPQ) $15.18 2.08%
Entergy Corp. (ETR) $69.53 2.07%
FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) $32.14 2.06%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $16.28 -2.98%
Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO) $16.87 -2.93%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $25.57 -2.33%
Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $33.56 -2.20%
FMC Technologies Inc. (FTI) $33.98 -2.10%
Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD) $181.87 -1.96%
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) $63.75 -1.92%
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $22.86 -1.89%
Eastman Chemical Co. (EMN) $75.14 -1.87%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $44.23 -1.80%