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US close: Banks, bond yields continue pushing higher
Wall Street's main market gauges finished higher, with investors apparently brushing off concerns about a possible government shutdown ahead of a key Senate vote.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was higher by 0.21% or 53.91 points to 26,071.72, alongside a gain of 0.44% or 12.27 points in the S&P 500 to 2,810.30 and an advance of 0.55% or 40.33 points for the Nasdaq Composite to 7,336.38.
From a sector standpoint, the best performing areas of the market were: Footwear (4.45%), Non-ferrous metals (2.89%), Tobacco (2.72%), Tires (2.42%) and Hotels (2.34%).
Lenders shares also put in another solid performance, with the KBW index of banking stocks jumping 1.22% to 114.14, amid an advance in both two and 10-year Treasury note yields.
Overnight, the House of Representatives had voted 230-197 to pass a one-month spending bill, but worries were that it could yet be derailed if there was enough opposition in the Senate.
IG analyst Joshua Mahony said: "Tensions are rising amid a potential government shutdown in the US, with the senate failing to even schedule a vote, let alone pass a vote to stave off another shutdown. Despite a proposition from the House to provide a stopgap solution, there is clear opposition from the Democrats in the Senate, with the immigration policy DACA at the centre of the fight. With an agreement needed by midnight, there is a real possibility that we will see a shutdown, helping drive the US dollar lower once more."
However, as Dr.Harm Bandholz at UniCredit Research pointed out, the impact on the economy would be "very limited" and while embarassing for the US, financial markets would likely not be perturbed by another display of Washington's dysfunctionality, said Dr.Bandholz.
Significantly, recent poll results had revealed broad support among Americans for young immigrants under the aegis of the DACA programme, meaning Democrats were likely to be more than happy to play 'hardball' over the issue.
Polls conducted by CBS and Quinnipiac over the last few days had shown 87% and 73% of Americans, respectively, in support of DACA.
Economic news was light on the ground at the end of the week, with only a preliminary reading on US consumer confidence in January due out.
In the event, the University of Michigan's headline consumer confidence index for January slipped from 95.9 at the end of December to 94.4 for the start of January.
Economists had projected a reading of 97.0.
Richard Curtin, the survey's chief economist, highlighted the persistent strength in survey measures of personal finances and buying plans.
Nonetheless, "favorable levels of buying conditions for household durables have receded to preholiday levels in early January, largely due to less attractive pricing," he said.
On the corporate front, IBM was under the cosh after reporting a fourth-quarter loss late on Thursday on the back of a one-off $5bn charge from the new US tax system.
American Express was also in focus after posting its first quarterly loss in more than a quarter-century and saying it would suspend its share buybacks.
Schlumberger was also seeing an active day after the oilfield services company's fourth-quarter adjusted profit and revenue beat analysts' expectations.
Dow Jones - Risers
Nike Inc. (NKE) $67.21 4.84%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $256.12 2.05%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $201.33 1.51%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $91.07 0.99%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $135.89 0.96%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $170.32 0.94%
3M Co. (MMM) $248.18 0.92%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $176.12 0.89%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $44.82 0.76%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $51.91 0.70%
Dow Jones - Fallers
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $162.37 -3.99%
General Electric Co. (GE) $16.26 -3.04%
American Express Co. (AXP) $98.03 -1.83%
Boeing Co. (BA) $337.73 -0.71%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $178.46 -0.45%
Visa Inc. (V) $122.70 -0.33%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $87.14 -0.32%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $113.01 -0.22%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $131.29 -0.22%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $36.94 -0.14%
S&P 500 - Risers
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $7.77 7.77%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $16.14 5.98%
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $17.24 5.90%
Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI) $23.20 5.45%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $67.21 4.84%
AutoNation Inc. (AN) $58.93 4.43%
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $67.54 4.15%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $14.20 3.72%
Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) $108.92 3.66%
Lowe's Companies Inc. (LOW) $104.95 3.54%
S&P 500 - Fallers
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $162.37 -3.99%
CBS Corp. (CBS) $57.76 -3.75%
McCormick & Co. (MKC) $99.19 -3.61%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $7.11 -3.27%
Qorvo, Inc. (QRVO) $68.40 -3.25%
General Electric Co. (GE) $16.26 -3.04%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $99.20 -3.02%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $42.75 -2.82%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $16.08 -2.37%
Hess Corp. (HES) $52.61 -2.28%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $83.76 2.58%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $230.11 2.53%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $273.02 2.51%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $115.29 2.43%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $5.60 2.38%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $179.64 2.37%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $92.56 2.25%
Marriott International - Class A (MAR) $144.07 2.08%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $167.74 2.03%
Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $75.96 1.80%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $99.20 -3.02%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $42.75 -2.82%
Ctrip.Com International Ltd. Ads (CTRP) $46.85 -1.26%
Broadcom Limited (AVGO) $266.39 -1.26%
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $96.14 -1.13%
CSX Corp. (CSX) $57.49 -0.96%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $85.60 -0.93%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $43.46 -0.89%
Priceline Group Inc (PCLN) $1,910.21 -0.86%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $68.91 -0.83%