Stocks lifted by a rebound in crude-oil prices
U.S. stocks ended Monday's volatile session with modest gains on 14 December 2015, lifted by a rebound in crude-oil prices. On Monday, the Dow industrial turned a triple-digit loss into a triple-digit gain, while the S&P 500 index dipped below 2,000 before rebounding as crude-oil prices briefly fell below $35 a barrel but settled higher for the first time in seven sessions.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average which was down 120 points at session lows, closed 103.29 points, or 0.6%, higher at 17,368.50, while the Nasdaq Composite added 18.76 points, or 0.4%, to 4,952.23. The S&P 500 closed 9.57 points, or 0.5%, higher at 2,021.94.
Stocks were led by gains in defensive sectors such as telecoms and consumer staples sectors. Materials stocks were the only decliners.
Equity indices slumped out of the gate with cyclical sectors fueling the early weakness. That selling was congruent with a retreat in the oil market, but a reversal in crude futures helped halt the slide in equities. The stock market spent the afternoon near its flat line, rallying to a fresh high during the final 15 minutes of the session.
U.S. oil prices finished higher for the first time in seven sessions on Monday, 14 december 2015, scoring a rebound from under $35 a barrel. The rebound for crude-oil prices comes despite concerns that a climate deal in Paris may hurt long-term oil demand. Natural-gas prices, meanwhile, plunged to their lowest settlement since 2001 as warmer weather and hefty supplies sent prices tumbling. Analysts gauged the potential impact on oil from a historic climate deal that was signed in Paris over the weekend.
Crude oil for delivery in January tacked on 69 cents, or 1.9%, at $36.31 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after tapping a low of $34.53 a barrel. Prices had posted declines in each of the past six trading sessions to tally a loss of roughly 13% since the close of $41.08 a barrel.
Apple shares struggled after Morgan Stanley lowered its iPhone sales forecast. Apple settled lower by 0.6% after being down more than 2.0% in the early going.
On Tuesday begins the highly anticipated two-day meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee (FOMC). The marketplace generally expects this week's FOMC meeting to see the Fed raise the U.S. fed funds level from the present rate of zero to 0.25%. What will be closely watched is the Fed's language that could provide clues on the pace of future interest rate increases. Fed Chair Janet Yellen holds a press conference right after this meeting's conclusion on Wednesday afternoon.
In overnight news, Euro zone industrial production in October rose a better-than-expected 0.6% month-on-month, and was up 1.9% year-on-year. In other news, the Chinese currency, the yuan, fell to a four-year low against the U.S. dollar Monday, as China monetary officials work to keep the world's second-largest economy afloat. There was no major U.S. economic released on Monday.
A key dollar index edged higher late Monday, reversing a decline from earlier in the session, ahead of a widely anticipated meeting of the Federal Reserve's interest-rate setting committee. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the dollar's value against a basket of six rival currencies, was up 0.1%. The dollar pared its early decline against both the euro and the yen to finish the session little-changed on the day against both rivals.
Bullion prices ended the U.S. day session lower on Monday, 14 December 2015 as crude oil dropped to a nearly seven-year low below $35.00 a barrel in early trading, before rebounding. Silver prices dropped to a six-year low. Gold dropped 1.1% to settle at $1,063.40 an ounce, while a key dollar index gained slightly. March Comex silver was last down $0.194 at $13.69 an ounce.
Treasuries retreated throughout the day, ending on their lows with the 10-yr yield rising ten basis points to 2.23%.
Today's participation was ahead of average as more than a billion shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.
Tomorrow, November CPI (consensus 0.0%) and December Empire Manufacturing Index (expected -5.9) will be reported at 8:30 ET while December NAHB Housing Market Index (consensus 63) will cross the wires at 10:00 ET.
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