Apple gains halting a four-session skid
U.S. stock-market indices relinquished earlier gains to close little changed on Tuesday, 26 September 2017 with the Dow industrials extending a losing streak to a fourth session. Investors appeared to shrug off comments from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, who cautioned against moving too slowly on interest rates. Yellen said there is a risk that the labor market could become overheated, causing an inflation problem down the road.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 11.77 points, or less than 0.1%, to 22,284.32. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 9.57 points, or 0.1%, to 6,380.16, recouping a fraction of losses from the previous session. The S&P 500 closed a fraction of a point higher at 2,496.84, with eight of the 11 main sectors ending lower.
Telecoms and materials led the losses while technology shares rebounded slightly. Apple gained 1.7%, halting a four-session skid.
In a speech on Tuesday, Yellen said that while recent soft inflation readings justify a gradual pace for interest-rate hikes, there is also a danger of moving too gradually. The labor market could become overheated, causing an inflation problem down the road. Yellen also said this year's low inflation is probably temporary. Her remarks seemed to back expectations that the Fed will raise interest rates one more time this year.
Economic data at Wall Street showed that the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city index rose a seasonally adjusted 5.8% in the three-month period ending in July compared with a year ago, and was up from 5.6% in the June period. Case-Shiller's national index rose 5.9%, up from 5.8%. Meanwhile, new-home sales tumbled last month, running at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 560,000.
Separate report showed that the consumer-confidence index slipped to 119.8 from a revised 120.4 in August, hurt in part by hurricanes Irma and Harvey.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index was up 0.3% on Tuesday to 92.917, putting some pressure on commodities. A strengthening buck makes it more expensive for holders of other currencies to buy dollar-denominated commodities.
Bullion prices ended lower at Comex on Tuesday, 26 September 2017. Gold finished with a loss on Tuesday, pressured as comments by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen reinforced expectations for another interest-rate increase before the end of the year. The retreat follows back-to-back session gains on the heels of tensions between the U.S. and North Korea.
December gold fell by $9.80, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,301.70 an ounce. December silver ended at $16.883 an ounceits lowest since mid-Augustdown 26.4 cents, or 1.5%, for the session.
Oil futures finished lower on Tuesday, 26 September 2017 on expectations U.S. data will show a fourth consecutive weekly rise in domestic crude inventories. U.S. prices had rallied on Monday, with the gains spurred in part by a threat from Turkey's president to cut off oil exports from a Kurdish region of Iraq.
November West Texas Intermediate crude declined by 34 cents, or 0.7%, to settle at $51.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices on Monday surged 3.1%, with the $52.22 settlement the highest since mid-April. November Brent on Tuesday fell 58 cents, or 1%, to $58.44 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
Weekly data on U.S. petroleum supplies will be released by Energy Information Administration late Tuesday and arly Wednesday. Market expect the EIA to report a fourth-straight weekly riseof 1.3 million barrels for crude inventories, while gasoline stockpiles are seen down by 100,000 barrels and distillates down 2.1 million barrels. An increase for crude supplies would follow three-consecutive weekly increases reported by the EIA, as Hurricane Harvey disrupted U.S. refinery operations, reducing demand for crude oil.
The yield on the benchmark 10-yr Treasury note climbed one basis point to 2.23% while the 2-yr yield jumped two basis points to 1.44%.
On Wednesday, investors will receive several economic reports, including the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index at 7:00 ET, August Durable Goods Orders (consensus +0.7%) at 8:30 ET, and August Pending Home Sales (consensus -0.4%) at 10:00 ET.
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