S&P 500, Dow log fresh record highs as Big Tech stocks boost market
U.S. stocks finished higher on Friday, driven by strong gains from Big...
U.S. stocks finished higher on Friday, driven by strong gains from Big Tech stocks like Meta Platforms Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Nvidia Corp.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average logged fresh record closing highs, their seventh and ninth of the year, respectively, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite logged a fresh 52-week closing high.
Here's where the main indexes finished, according to preliminary closing data from FactSet.
The S&P 500 gained 52.40 points, or 1.1%, to 4,958.60.
The Nasdaq Composite rose by 267.31 points, or 1.7%, to 15,628.95.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 134.78 points, or 0.4%, to 38,654.62.
Gains on Friday were largely concentrated in shares of mega-cap technology companies, with communications services stocks on the S&P 500 seeing their best day since April, while consumer discretionary and information technology stocks also saw strong gains.
Industrials, financials, and energy stocks also finished higher.
Benchmark U.S. crude oil for March delivery fell $1.54 to $72.28 per barrel Friday. Brent crude for April delivery fell $1.37 to $77.33 per barrel.
Wholesale gasoline for March delivery fell 4 centsto $2.15 a gallon. March heating oilfell 5 centsto $2.66 a gallon. March natural gasrose 3 cents to $2.08 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Chevron reported earnings of $2.3 billion ($1.22 per...
Chevron reported earnings of $2.3 billion ($1.22 per share - diluted) for fourth quarter 2023, compared with $6.4 billion ($3.33 per share - diluted) in fourth quarter 2022. Included in the current quarter were $1.8 billion of U.S. upstream impairment charges and $1.9 billion of decommissioning obligations from previously sold assets in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Foreign currency effects decreased earnings by $479 million. Adjusted earnings of $6.5 billion ($3.45 per share - diluted) in fourth quarter 2023 compared to adjusted earnings of $7.9 billion ($4.09 per share - diluted) in fourth quarter 2022. See Attachment 4 for a reconciliation of adjusted earnings. The company’s Board of Directors declared an 8 percent increase in the quarterly dividend to one dollar and sixty-three cents ($1.63) per share, payable March 11, 2024, to all holders of common stock as shown on the transfer records of the corporation at the close of business on February 16, 2024
The energy sector is off to a mixed to lower start pressured by weakness in the crude complex amid mixed performances in the major equity futures. U.S. stock index futures pared early morning gains after a stronger-than-expected jobs report dampened hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve could start cutting interest rates early this year. A Labor Department report showed non-farm payrolls rose by 353,000 in January, compared with 180,000. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate stayed steady at 3.7% in January from the month before. Economists had forecast a rise to 3.8%.
WTI and Brent crude oil futures are trading lower for the third consecutive session, despite the OPEC+ group's decision to leave its production policy unchanged, keeping benchmarks on track for weekly losses on China economic growth fears and efforts to establish a ceasefire in the Middle East. OPEC+ will decide in March whether or not to extend voluntary oil production cuts in place for the first quarter following a ministerial panel meeting where no changes were made to the group's output policy. Elsewhere, Mediators are awaiting a response from Hamas to a proposal drafted last week with Israeli and U.S. spy chiefs and passed on by Egypt and Qatar for the war's first extended ceasefire.
Natural gas futures are swinging in and out of negative territory as the NOAA's 6-10 day forecast shows above-normal temps east of the Rockies, especially across the middle and upper-MS Valley, and the Great Lakes region.
Liberty Resources sells N.D. assets to Silver Hill
Silver Hill Energy Partners will buy Liberty Resources II's interests in oil and gas properties and...
Silver Hill Energy Partners will buy Liberty Resources II's interests in oil and gas properties and all of Liberty Midstream Solutions in North Dakota, which produce nearly 13,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The deal will close on March 14 for an undisclosed price.