Berita 24 English - US stocks ended mostly lower on Friday, weighed down by technology and consumer discretionary stocks. At the same time...
Berita 24 English - US stocks ended mostly lower on Friday, weighed down by technology and consumer discretionary stocks. At the same time, the dollar edged higher following stronger-than-expected manufacturing data from the United States.
US Treasury yields fell as the market largely ignored the data.
IHS Markit reported that its flash US manufacturing purchasing managers' index increased to 61.5 in the first half of this month. This was the highest reading since October 2009 and came on the heels of an April final reading of 60.5. Reuters polled economists, who predicted the index would fall to 60.2 in early May. Markets have been rattled by rising inflationary risks in the United States, and minutes from Wednesday's Federal Reserve meeting indicated that some policymakers were prepared to discuss reducing stimulus by tapering bond purchases.
Patrick Harker, president of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank, said Friday that Fed officials should begin discussing the best way to reduce their asset purchases "sooner rather than later." However, not all data indicate that the economy is at risk of overheating.
Additionally, rising COVID-19 cases globally continue to be a source of concern. Official death tolls indicating the number of people killed directly or indirectly by the pandemic are likely to be a "significant underestimate," the World Health Organization said on Friday, adding that 6 to 8 million people may have died thus far.
"Institutional investors withdrew money due to inflation concerns, but that money will begin to flow back into technology stocks as those concerns subside," said Thomas Hayes, chairman and managing member of hedge fund Great Hill Capital LLC.
The S&P technology index fell 0.5%, while the consumer discretionary index fell 0.6%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 123.69 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 34,207.84, while the S&P 500 fell by 3.26 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 4,155.86, and the Nasdaq Composite fell by 64.75 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 13,470.99. The S&P 500 fell about 0.4 per cent for the week. The pan-European STOXX 600 index gained 0.57 per cent, while the MSCI world stock index gained 0.03 per cent.
In the eurozone, the IHS Markit flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index increased to 56.9 in May, its highest level since February 2018, from 53.8 in April. Retail sales in the United Kingdom increased 9.2 per cent month on month in April, more than doubling the average forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. The UK Composite Purchasing Managers' Index reached a record high of 62.0.
Sterling was trading at $1.4144 at the time of writing, down 0.02 per cent on the day.
The dollar index increased by 0.27 per cent, while the euro decreased by 0.38 per cent to $1.2179. Bitcoin fell in the cryptocurrency market after China stepped up its efforts to prevent speculative and financial risks by cracking down on bitcoin mining and trading. Bitcoin fell 11.5 per cent to $35,952.05 per coin.
ON THURSDAY, the US Treasury Department called for new rules requiring large cryptocurrency transfers to be reported to the Internal Revenue Service. At the same time, the Federal Reserve highlighted the risks cryptocurrencies posed to financial stability. The price of benchmark 10-year notes last rose 3/32 to yield 1.6233 per cent, up from 1.634 per cent late Thursday.
Oil prices rose 2% after three days of losses, as investors awaited the formation of a storm over the western Gulf of Mexico. Brent crude futures increased to $66.44 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $63.58. Gold on the spot market increased by 0.2 per cent to $1,880.30 an ounce.
