Both the U.S. and North Korea have shown a willingness to still meet
Stocks struggled today amid growing political uncertainty and a big drop in oil prices. Traders continued to consider the up-and-down relationship between the U.S. and North Korea, with President Donald Trump suggesting the nations could still arrange a meeting. Meanwhile, reports that Russia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could raise output levels pressured crude futures, resulting in heavy losses across the energy sector. As such, the Dow and S&P 500 spent most of the day in the red, though both indexes -- along with the Nasdaq -- grabbed weekly wins.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 24,753.09) flirted with positive territory in the first half of the day, but dropped 58.7 points, or 0.2%, marking its third loss in the past four days. Of the 30 Dow stocks, 13 closed with gains, led by Intel's (INTC) 1.3% advance. Chevron (CVX) had the worst day by far, losing 3.5%. The blue-chip index finished the week with a 0.2% gain.
The S&P 500 Index (SPX - 2,721.33) lost 6.4 points, or 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC - 7,433.85) managed a 9.4-point, or 0.1%, win. The SPX closed the week with a 0.3% win, and the Nasdaq added 1.1%.
The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 13.22) finished back atop the 13 level, picking up 0.7 point, or 5.5%. The VIX lost 1.5% for the week, though.
5 Items on Our Radar Today
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The FBI just announced that Russian hackers have infiltrated hundreds of thousands of home and office routers, allowing them to collect information or to disrupt the networks. This follows Cisco's announcement that Russia was likely behind the compromising of more than 500,000 routers overseas. (Reuters)
- Heading into the long Memorial Day weekend, gas prices in the U.S. are hovering near the $3-per-gallon mark. The national average was $2.96 per gallon on Thursday, up 59 cents from last year, and at least 17 states had prices over $3 per gallon. (USA Today)
- A potential Netflix acquisition target, per Citron Research.
- Why one analyst is saying buy PayPal stock.
- The retailer that shot to multi-year highs after earnings.
Data courtesy of Trade-Alert
Oil Prices Sink; Gold Gets a Weekly Win
Oil prices suffered a big loss, with July-dated crude futures finishing the day down $2.83, or 4%, at $67.88 per barrel -- the lowest close since May 1. Liquid gold closed the week down 4.9%.
June gold finished the day down 70 cents, or 0.1%, at $1,303.70 per ounce, weighed down by a strengthening dollar. However, gold got a weekly win, closing up 1%.