After a wobble, USA stocks manage to post moderate gains

After a wobble, USA stocks manage to post moderate gains photo After a wobble, USA stocks manage to post moderate gains

Major stock indexes shook off an early stumble and finished with slight gains Friday as traders turned their attention to a key meeting of the Federal Reserve next week.



It was a quiet end to another turbulent week. Thanks largely to a big jump Tuesday, the market finished with a 2 percent gain for the week.

Energy stocks didn’t join the advance and fell along with the price of oil. Premier Li Keqiang also said Beijing will stick to plans for market-opening reforms despite recent “fluctuations” in economic performance.

Consumer sentiment fell to a reading of 85.7 in September on signs the global economy is worsening and after weeks of extreme volatility on stock markets.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index increased eight points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,961. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.34%, and the Nasdaq climbed 0.35%.

CRUDE: Benchmark USA crude fell $1.29 to close at $44.63 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. South Korea’s Kospi edged down 0.1 percent to 1,931.98. Rig operator Transocean fell 3.4 percent.

The video streaming company snapped a seven-day losing streak, gaining $4.23, or 4.5 percent, to $99.18 after the company said it would bring its service to four more Asian countries next year.

Goldman Sachs, Wall Street’s most influential voice in oil trading, slashed its 2016 forecast for USA crude prices to $45 a barrel from $57 previously, and Brent to $49.50 down from $62, citing oversupply and concerns over China’s economy. Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.5 percent.

CHINA: Before traders return to their desks on Monday, a large batch of Chinese economic news will come out over the weekend. The dollar rose 0.7 percent against the euro to $1.1150 and gained against the yen, climbing 1.1 percent to 121.13.

“It’s all about whether the Fed indicates that they are going to do some kind of tightening”, said Tom di Galoma, head of rates and credit trading at ED&F Man Capital Markets in New York.

“The weekend release of Chinese retail sales, industrial production and fixed asset investment numbers means that Monday is likely to start with a bang”, Mahony said. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note held steady at 2.19 percent a day earlier.

Lower oil prices could have a positive side effect, though. Copper settled unchanged from the day before at $2.45 a pound. PetroChina (PTR – Get Report), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A – Get Report), Schlumberger (SLB – Get Report), and ConocoPhillips (COP – Get Report) were among the biggest losers, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) fell 1.4%.

– Natural gas fell 5.9 cents to close at $2.651 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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