US stock market rise speed ups in late trading – seattlepi.com
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil and gas companies led U.S. stocks up Friday, setting the market up for its first gain in more than a week.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 16 points, or 0.8 percent, to 2,009, as of 3 p.m. Energy companies led all 10 of the index’s industries to gains, surging 3 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average picked up 106 points, or 0.6 percent, to 17,427, while the Nasdaq composite added 38 points, or 0.9 percent, to 4,609.
Since the start of the year, worries about the strength of the global economy have weighed the market down. The S&P 500, a widely used benchmark for U.S. investment funds, is on course for its third straight weekly loss.
VIEW: “There has been a lot of conflicting information to digest recently,” said Anastasia Amoroso, a global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. The big question has been whether the recent slump in oil prices will lead to other problems, such as deflation, a downward spiral in prices that could put companies out of business. “Are low oil prices a good or a bad thing?” Amoroso said. “For stocks, deflation is not so great.”
OIL RALLY: The price of oil rose sharply after the International Energy Agency predicted drillers would reduce output this year and that lower prices would increase global demand for crude. Benchmark U.S. crude for February delivery rose $2.44 to close at $48.69 a barrel in New York. Brent crude for March delivery, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, rose 31 cents to close at $50.17 in London. Still, oil has plunged from its most recent June high of more than $100.
WELCOME THE DROP: “Lower oil prices on the whole are supportive of economic growth worldwide,” said Jason Pride, director of investment strategy at Glenmede Trust. “They’re very helpful for Japan, Europe, China and India. It’s clearly a good thing.”
GOLDMAN: A fall in trading revenue pulled down Goldman Sachs’s quarterly earnings 10 percent. The investment bank’s fixed income, currency and commodities division slumped 29 percent. Goldman’s stock dipped $2.90, or 2 percent, to $175.60.
ECONOMY: U.S. manufacturers churned out more furniture, computers and clothing in December. The Federal Reserve said factory production increased slightly last month, a fourth straight monthly gain. In a separate report, a gauge of consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan jumped to its highest level in 11 years.
MEDIOCRE START: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and other big banks have reported weaker profits this week, getting the fourth-quarter earnings season off to a slow start. Analysts predict that big corporations will post earnings growth of 4 percent, according to S&P Capital IQ. Sales are expected to rise just 2.1 percent, largely the result of falling revenue for oil companies.
EUROPE: Most major markets in Europe closed with solid gains. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 climbed 1.3 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.8 percent.
SWISS SHOCKER: The Swiss National Bank, or SNB, said Thursday that it decided to ditch an increasingly expensive policy to cap the rise of the Swiss franc. After the announcement, the Swiss franc spiked against both the euro and the dollar. The SNB had prevented the euro from trading below 1.20 Swiss francs. On Friday, the franc was stable, but Switzerland’s stock market sank again, losing 6 percent.
FALLOUT: The swift move in the Swiss franc rocked brokerages that deal in foreign currencies. FXCM, a New York-based brokerage, said Thursday that its big losses may have put the company in breach of regulatory requirements. FXCM’s stock plunged 88 percent ahead of the opening bell before trading in its shares was suspended.
ASIA’S DAY: Major markets in Asia ended with losses. Both Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.4 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed with a loss of 1 percent.
METALS: Precious and industrial metals continued their recent run. Gold gained $12.10 to settle at $1,276.90 an ounce, while silver rose 65 cents to $17.75 an ounce. Copper inched up 6 cents to $2.62 a pound.
ENERGY: In futures trading the wholesale gasoline rose 6 cents to close at $1.359 a gallon. Heating oil rose 4.3 cents to close at $1.666 a gallon. Natural gas fell 3.1 cents to close at $3.127 per 1,000 cubic feet.
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US stock market rise speed ups in late trading – seattlepi.com
