MarketWatch: Nasdaq posts 16.8% quarterly gain, best quarter since the 2020
U.S. stocks rallied on Friday to end a rocky month higher,...
U.S. stocks rallied on Friday to end a rocky month higher, as investors in stocks largely looked past turbulence earlier in March after the Federal Reserve acted to calm markets following the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The Fed opened a new facility for banks to tap for liquidity with the aim of preventing forced asset sales, should more lenders experience sharp deposit outflows.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped about 415 points, or 1.3%, ending near 33,274 on Friday and up 1.9% for the month, according to preliminary FactSet figures.
The S&P 500 index and Nasdaq Composite Index posted higher daily gains of 1.4% and 1.7%, respectively, which elevated their monthly gains to 3.5% and 6.7%.
Friday also marked the end of the quarter,with the Dow and S&P 500 both posting quarterly gains of 0.5% and 7%, respectively, according to FactSet. The Nasdaq booked a 16.8% quarterly gain, the best quarter for the technology-heavy index since 2020, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
A large tornado was spotted near Little Rock, Ark., and images from the city showed debris and damage to homes.
A large tornado struck near Little Rock, Ark., on Friday afternoon,...
A large tornado struck near Little Rock, Ark., on Friday afternoon, tearing down trees and destroying homes, according to the National Weather Service, whose meteorologists in the local office were forced to evacuate.
The tornado is part of a complex and dangerous storm system that began hitting the Upper Midwest and South, forecasters said.
Images from Little Rock showed debris and damage to homes from the tornado, which KATV, a local TV station, described as “catastrophic,” saying it expected widespread damage
EIA Reports Lower Natural Gas Withdrawal Than Expected
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday reported a 47 Bcf withdrawal...
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday reported a 47 Bcf withdrawal from U.S. natural gas storage facilities during the week ending March 24. The pull came in on the lighter side of pre-report expectations. Still, it was tighter than the five-year average 17 Bcf withdrawal.
“Compared to degree days and normal seasonality, this week’s reported withdrawal is the loosest we have seen since Feb. 9,” Wood Mackenzie analyst Eric McGuire said in a note to clients Friday. “Despite having 4.5 total degree days more than the week ending March 9, the withdrawal came in 11 Bcf smaller than that corresponding week.”
The latest print was 4.2 Bcf/d looser than the five-year average, versus 2.6 Bcf/d loose on average over the previous four weeks, McGuire said.
Natural-gas futures have lost half their value in the first quarter
Most commodities have declined in the first three months of the year, with concerns over the banking...
Most commodities have declined in the first three months of the year, with concerns over the banking crisis and a potential economic recession hitting the energy sector.
Natural gas was among those posting the largest losses, with U.S. prices for the commodity losing around half their value in the first quarter, and touching their lowest level in more than two years earlier this month.
As of March 30, the S&P GSCI, a benchmark for investments in the commodity markets, eyed a decline of more than 7% for the first quarter.
U.S. steel and iron-ore futures, meanwhile, bucked the trend to trade higher, in part due to higher demand in the wake of the reopening of China's economy.
California will require half of all heavy trucks sold in the state to be electric by 2035, in an aggressive push to clean up the worst polluters.
The regulation will apply to garbage trucks, tractor-trailers, cement mixers, and other heavy vehicles....
The regulation will apply to garbage trucks, tractor-trailers, cement mixers, and other heavy vehicles. It comes on the heels of a rule passed last year requiring all new passenger vehicles sold in the state to be electric by 2035.
