NEW YORK :U.S. stocks turned positive and crude prices were on track for their biggest weekly drop in a month as weak data and disappointing corporate earnings added to worries over softening global demand.
Gold, meanwhile, muscled past the $2,700 mark for the first time ever.
“Gold is having a strong run because of the breadth of uncertainties,” Greg Bassuk, Chief Executive Officer at AXS Investments in New York. “It’s the safe-haven play and investors would be prudent to diversify their portfolios safe-haven allocations amid this deep level of uncertainty.”
A rally in Chinese stocks in reaction to Beijing’s latest policy steps to boost demand appeared to have a limited effect on Wall Street stocks.
Tech-adjacent megacap momentum stocks boosted the Nasdaq, while the S&P 500’s and the Dow’s gains were more modest.
All three indexes, however, have set course for their sixth consecutive week of gains.
A spate of earnings ran the gamut from upbeat to dour, with streaming platform Netflix showing strong subscriber additions, while consumer products company Procter & Gamble reported a surprise drop in sales due to slowing demand for its products.
“Netflix got the tech sector going, and when one sector is strong usually people sell the other sectors, so the Nasdaq is leading and the Dow is lagging,” said Jay Hatfield, Chief Executive Officer at Infrastructure Capital Management in New York. “But a few days ago the exact opposite was happening, So it’s a classic market melt-up.”
“People are responding to global rate cuts, and the U.S. economy strong,” Hatfield added. “The only uncertainty is the election. “The only uncertainty is the election, but it seems like people are getting more comfortable with that outcome as well.””
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 62.17 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 43,301.52, the S&P 500 rose 26.92 points, or 0.46 per cent, to
