Category: Stock Market News

Oil prices settled higher for Friday’s session, buoyed by uncertainty surrounding Libya’s production. Bloomberg reported Friday that an armed group seized control of the country’s biggest oil port. April West Texas Intermediate crude rose 72 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $53.33 a barrel. Prices still fell about 1.2% for the week on the back of rising U.S. crude supplies and production.

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Gold futures settled lower Friday after Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said that the central bank is likely to announce an interest-rate increase at its meeting later this month if employment and inflation continue to meet its expectations. Prices had already fallen in each of the last three sessions as other Fed officials hinted at an upcoming rate hike. April gold fell $6.40, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,226.50 an ounce. Prices lost about 2.5% for the week and settled at a two-and-a-half week low.

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Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said he was happy to see the market price in a March rate hike. “If there has been a conscious effort to move up rate hike expectations I am going to join it,” Fischer said during the question-and-answer session after a speech to the Chicago Booth School of Business Monetary Policy Forum, according to reports from the event. The Fed vice chairman said that no economic data has come in badly in last three months.

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Data from Baker Hughes Friday revealed that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil rose by 7 to 609 rigs this week. That marked the seventh weekly increase in a row. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes oil and natural-gas rigs, also rose by 2 to 756, according to Baker Hughes. April West Texas Intermediate crude was up 53 cents, or 1%, at $53.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was little changed from the level it traded at before the data.

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Oil futures climbed back toward session highs on Thursday following reports of violence near Libya’s biggest oil terminal. Bloomberg reported that workers were evacuated from the Es Sider oil port as fighting escalated nearby. East Libyan forces said they carried out air strikes and clashed with rival factions Friday close to major oil terminals, according to Reuters. April West Texas Intermediate crude rose 57 cents, or 1.1%, to $53.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. May Brent crude added 58 cents, or 1.1%, to $55.66 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London. “Remember one of the reasons some are skeptical about the success of OPEC cuts is because some producers like Libya have no production cap,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group. “Maybe the fighting has put that cap in for a while.”

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Securities and Exchange Commission said a Mexican homebuilder reported fake sales of more than 100,000 homes. Desarrolladora Homex S.A.B. de C.V. inflated the number of homes sold during a three-year period by approximately 317% and overstated its revenue by 355%, or approximately $3.3 billion, the SEC said. Homex filed for the Mexican equivalent of bankruptcy protection in April 2014 and emerged in October 2015 under new equity ownership. Homex cooperated with the SEC investigation, the agency said, and neither admitted nor denied the findings.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Federal authorities arrested a man for making a wave of threats to Jewish community centers throughout the country. Juan Thompson of St. Louis allegedly stalked a former romantic interest by making bomb threats in her name to JCCs and to the Anti-Defamation League, the U.S. government says.

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Uber drivers in London face having to take a written English language test, after the ride-hailing company lost a court battle Friday. The U.K. High Court decided Uber Technologies Inc. is subject to new rules being introduced by Transport for London, according to media reports. One requirement calls for private hire drivers to be able to pass the literacy test, which includes a 120-word essay, if they are a native of a non-English speaking country. The presiding justice acknowledged 40,000 drivers could miss out on a license to operate as a result. Transport for London brought in the rules after facing complaints from the black-cab industry. Uber has said it will appeal the court decision, the Financial Times reported.

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Stocks opened mostly lower on Friday as investors awaited comments from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen and Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer. The S&P 500 index slipped two points, or 0.1%, to 2,380, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat at 21,006. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed seven points, or 0.1%, to 5,854. Caterpillar Inc. shares eased amid reports of a raid by federal authorities. Shares of Big Lots Inc. rose after the company beat profit expectations but missed sales forecasts. In other markets, the Mexican peso soared to a new postelection high against the dollar following comments from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. The market-based probability of an interest-rate hike at the Fed’s coming March meeting were above 75% on Friday, compared with around 30% a week ago, as a bevy of Fed speakers appeared to signal that a rate hike was likely. Investors will be watching to see if Yellen and Fischer confirm this view.

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The Mexican peso shot to a fresh postelection high on Friday after Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said during an interview on CNBC that the battered currency could receive a boost if the U.S. and its southern neighbor manage to work out a “good” trade deal. The dollar was off 2.2% at 19.56 pesos in recent trade, compared with 20 pesos late Thursday in New York. Ross also spoke of the need to implement some kind of stability mechanism for the Mexican currency, which has been extremely volatile in recent months. The peso has fallen in part because President Donald Trump has pledged to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement.

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