All three indexes logged solid weekly wins
It was a wild end to the first trading week of August. All day, the Dow and S&P 500 tried to fight back into the black, only to succeed in the final minutes before the closing bell. Gains of course were capped, as tensions continued to build between the U.S. and China, and the lack of progress over a new round of coronavirus stimulus carried on.
Nevertheless, the Dow and S&P 500 both extended their winning streaks to six, the latter's best winning streak since April 2019. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq cooled off from its seven-day victory lap, with big tech names Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) taking on outsized losses. At the end of the day, though, all three benchmarks logged solid weekly wins.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Uber earnings: users halved, but its food delivery business doubled.
- Bull notes and an earnings beat could not save this popular file storage stock.
- Plus, a beer stock for thirsty options bears; analysts think this delivery stock could be this year's best idea; the strongest stocks to own in the streaming war battlefield.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 27,433.48) gained 46.5 points, or 0.2% for the day, and 3.8% for the week. American Express (AXP) finished with a 3.2% jump, pacing the 20 gainers. Merck & Co (MRK) paced the 10 laggards with a less than 1% fall.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index (SPX - 3,351.28) added 2.1 points, or 0.1% for the day, and 2.4% for the week. The Nasdaq Composite (IXIC - 11,010.98) dropped 97.1 points, or 0.9% for today's session, but was higher 2.5% for the week.
Lastly, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 22.21) lost 0.4 point, or 1.9%, for the day.
- Canada is retaliating against President Donald Trump's decision to reimpose aluminum duties by tacking on tariffs on $2.7 billion worth of U.S. goods. (CNBC)
- UPS will implement costly shipping fees this holiday season, testing the ability of retailers such as Amazon (AMZN) and Target (TGT) to offset costs. (MarketWatch)
- This beer stock may be the perfect one for options bears to crack open.
- One brokerage firm thinks FedEx stock could be the "best idea" for the rest of 2020.
- The streaming war is only heating up -- these are the best stocks to own.
Data courtesy of Trade-Alert
Gold Finally Snaps Record-Breaking Streak
Oil futures managed to secure a weekly win of 2.1%, despite finishing lower on Friday amid tensions between the U.S. and China over the banning of TikTok. September-dated crude was down 73 cents, or 1.7%, to end at $41.22 a barrel.
Meanwhile, gold finally snapped its historic five-session winning streak of record closes, though it still finished the week well above the $2,000 mark. Gold for December, which is the most-active contract, dropped $41.40, or 2%, to settle at $2,028 an ounce. It finished the week with a 2.1% advance.