Major stocks ended the week mixed
The S&P 500 rebounded from its lows on Friday, but remained under pressure from a decline in technology. Concerns that the Fed may raise interest rates more than anticipated keep pressuring the traders. These rose in light of recent data indicating a better economy and persistent inflation.
The S&P 500 sank 0.25%, the Dow Jones closed in the green 0.38%, and Nasdaq fell 0.58%. Major tech stocks were under assault as economic data, like Wednesday’s sizzling wholesale inflation report, fuelled worries that the Fed’s rate-hike trajectory has broadened.
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Alphabet, the parent company of Google closed 1.21% in the red. Microsoft followed with 1.38% in the red and so did Apple with 0.75% down. Facebook was a gainer on Friday with a 0.26% increase.
Deere & Co upped its annual profit projection on Friday after topping Wall Street forecasts for the most recent quarter. This was due to greater sales of its high-powered tractors and a rise in construction client expenditure.
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The stock of the world’s biggest manufacturer of farm equipment gained 6.1%. As the firm increases its product range to include driverless solutions for crop planting and harvesting, equipment sales at the Moline, Illinois-based company increased by 34%. Production and precise agriculture unit sales increased by 55%.
US dollar was unable to hold on to the gains
The US dollar gained from all the fears, and solidified its position as a safe haven. Traders however rode the volatility roller coaster and sold profits by the end of the week, which moved the dollar lower against it’s major rivals.
The dollar index ended the week flat at 103.815, which is a 0.02% gain. EUR/USD gained 0.24%, barely touching the 1.07 mark at 1.0694. GBP/USD gained 0.42%, moving above the psychological 1.2 mark to 1.2043.
The Japanese yen was the only major rival which lost, a slight 0.18%, to the dollar with a session high of 134.74, which was last seen in December. The Aussie ended up flat with only a 0.06% in the green
Gas continues the selling after a brief beam of hope
Natural gas futures returned to a weekly loss at Friday’s settlement. The market is slowly moving towards a breach of the $2 barrier it has held to for the previous 2 and a half years.
The March futures for Henry Hub of the NYMEX finished at $2.2750 per mmBtu, which is a decrease of 11.4 cents or 4.8% on the day. The weekly decline was 9.5%. The price of natural gas has decreased continuously since the week ending December 9th, losing 65% in the process.
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Brent crude oil futures finished down $2.14, or 2.5%, at $83.00 per barrel, representing a weekly decline of 3.9%. The US crude benchmark WTI finished down $2.15, or 2.7%, at $76.34, a decrease of 4.2% from last Friday’s close.
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