US market close: S&P hits high amid inflation
By Joseph Toppe
21:33, 10 December 2021
The major US indexes finished the week higher as the S&P hit a new milestone and inflation peaked at a 40-year high.
The S&P 500 went up around 1%, the Nasdaq Composite Index improved 0.7%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.6%.
Halfway through the session, the S&P 500 was up 0.5%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was nearly 60 points higher, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.3%.
Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite completed their best week since February, while the Dow posted its best weekly gains since March.
Inflation heats to 40-year high
US consumer prices rose in November at the fastest pace since the early 1980s, putting pressure on the US Federal Reserve to taper its asset purchase programme more quickly and revisit the timing of future interest rate hikes.
On a 12-month basis, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was up 6.8% in November from 6.2% in the prior month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in a release.
This rate is more than three times the US Federal Reserve’s 2% target and the highest rate since 1982. The index rose 0.8% last month against October's CPI reading of a 0.9% gain.
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Winners and losers: Tesla stock rises after Musk tweet
On Friday, shares of Peloton backpedalled 6.5% after falling almost 12% yesterday.
Shares of Tesla rose 0.9% after Elon Musk sold more of his company stock, totalling near $1bn, and tweeting that he was “thinking of quitting his jobs.”
Shares of Oracle are up around 16% after the database company reported second-quarter results that beat estimates, while shares for Broadcom jumped nearly 8.1% after posting better-than-expected results.
Shares of Chewy lost 10% following the retailer’s disappointing results showing rising supply chain and labour costs.
Oil: Crude hits highest peak in over three months
Oil futures were up on Friday, posting their best mark since August.
West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery went up 73 cents, or 1%, to settle at $71.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. WTI lost 2% on Thursday.
February Brent crude tacked on 73 cents, or 1%, to end at $75.15 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. The global benchmark slid 1.9% yesterday.
Gold: Precious metal posts weekly gain
Gold futures went slightly higher on Friday, marking their first weekly win in almost a month.
February gold added $8.10, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,784.80 an ounce.
On the week, prices settled slightly above the most-active contract's week-ago finish of $1,783.90.
Forex: US dollar holds spot, yields up slightly
On Friday, one US dollar equals 0.88 of the euro, 1.39 of the Australian dollar and is holding steady at 1.27 of the Canadian dollar.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note settled at 1.487% compared with 1.486% yesterday.
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