Global Economic Daily - 1/6/2025
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Closing Commentary
Quote of the Day: To be is to do. – Immanuel Kant
Equities: Stocks closed higher Friday as Wall Street recovered following a shaky start to the new year. The S&P 500 closed up 73.92 points at 5,942.47, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 339.86 points to end the day at 42,732.13. The Nasdaq 100 gained 350.33 points to close at 21,326.16. Tech stocks were a bright spot for the market on Friday. Chip giant Nvidia climbed 4.7%, while server maker Super Micro Computer jumped 10.9%. The rally on Friday was broad, though some of the best performers were also big winners during last year’s rally. Friday’s rally snapped a five-day losing streak for the Nasdaq and the S&P 500, but it was not enough to make the major averages winners on the week. The S&P 500 finished the week down 0.48%, while the Dow lost 0.60%. The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.51%. That weakness for stocks also means the “Santa Claus” rally, in which stocks gain in the final five trading days of one year and the first two of the next, failed to materialize. The market cooled in the final weeks of 2024, but the averages are still not too far from record highs after a strong year for Wall Street. News out of Washington, D.C., was spurring some individual stock moves on Friday. Shares of U.S. Steel fell 6.5% after President Joe Biden said he would block the proposed acquisition by Nippon Steel. Booze and beer stocks declined after the U.S. surgeon general issued an advisory on cancer risk related to alcohol consumption, with Molson Coors falling 3.4%. TECHNICAL OUTLOOK – The Dow and S&P are now both below the 14, 21 day moving average.
Metals: Gold and silver prices are solidly higher in midday U.S. trading Thursday, with gold hitting a more-than-two-week high. Chart-based buying is featured as the near-term technical postures for both metals have improved just recently. Buying support on this first trading day of 2025 is also coming from a rally in the crude oil market. The key outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index sharply higher and hit a more-than-two-year high overnight. Gold and silver gains today are especially impressive given the strong rally in the greenback. It suggests that the usually daily divergent relationship between the USDX and the two precious metals is not strong at present and may continue that way. Nymex crude oil futures prices are solidly higher and trading around $73.50 a barrel. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note is on the rise and is presently around 4.6%. Technically, February gold futures bulls have the overall near-term technical advantage. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at $2,700.00. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at the December low of $2,596.70. March silver futures bears still have the overall near-term technical advantage. A nine-week-old downtrend is in place on the daily bar chart. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $31.00. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at the August low of $27.39. TECHNICAL OUTLOOK – Gold is above the 14, 21 day moving average, while silver remains below.
DISCLAIMER: The Information and data contained herein was obtained from sources deemed reliable. The accuracy and completeness are not guaranteed
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