The U.S. stock market had a slow news day Friday due to the U.S. holiday season. This, however, did not inhibit the three major market indices from closing out the week with record highs. Both the S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged over into a new high. The Nasdaq Composite Index boosted into another record closing as well, with the fund continuing its 11-day winning streak.
Here's how the U.S. stock market closed:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
The year-end rally the stock market is experiencing this December has already boosted the U.S. equity indexes (S&P, Dow, Nasdaq) to historic levels. December 2019's rally is within reach of being the market's best calendar year since 1997. The S&P is up 29% in 2019, and is very close to the record posted in 1997 of 29.6%.
In U.S. Stock Sector News, sectors remained mixed as the market heads towards its last two trading days of the year. The half that saw share growth Friday include Consumer Staples +0.40%, Real Estate +0.35%, Utilities +0.26%, Health Care +0.06%, Consumer Discretionary +0.05% and Information Technology +0.02%. The rest that lost growth today include Energy -0.47%, Materials -0.25%, Communication Services -0.14%, Financials -0.14% and Industrials -0.04%.
Lastly, in Commodity and Currency News, the price of crude oil had slight movement today, with barrel prices remaining above $60. West Texas Intermediate decreased over -10%, whereas Brent Crude had a modest increase of almost +0.30%. Gold, on the other hand, continues to lose the gains it posted earlier in the week. The price per ounce of the metal fell over -0.40% in trading Friday, although the commodity is maintaining a price above $1,500. Finally, the U.S. Dollar also took a dive to cap off the week. The DXY Index posted a loss of over -0.55%.
