WizzWatch Market Newsletter

As the equity markets came to a close after one of the worst months of trading, the general market finally turned positive as all three indices moved higher to end the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq as well as the Standard and Poors 500 closed to end the week on the upside. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average began the week trading at 27,362.14 and closed to end the week trading on Friday at 27,682.81 +508.85 or 1.87% on heavier than average weekly trading volume of 1.94 billion. The average trading volume for the index is 1.92 billion. As for now the index is 6.19% away from it’s all time high closing price that was set in February of this year at 29.398.08.

The top movers in the Dow 30 as the market came to a close on Friday were (DOW) Dow Chemicals +2.60% followed by (CAT) Caterpillar +2.20%, (MCD) McDonalds +1.40%, (HON) Honeywell +1.18% and (CVX) Chevron +0.77%. 

Over at the tech weighed Nasdaq it closed to end the week trading higher for the second consecutive week 5.6% from its all time closing price high at 11,695.63. The index closed to end the week trading at 11,075.05 +161.46 points or +1.48% higher on heavier than average trading volume of 18.8 billion. 

Downside support for the index is currently at 10,464.86 with upside resistance at its all time price high. In order for the index to continue higher to the upside we must see a bounce above the 11,344.13 price high that occurred in trading on Thursday September 30, the last day of September.

As for the S&P 500 the index closed to end the week trading 1.45% below its weekly trading price high at 3,397.18 to end the week at 3,348.42. The index ended the week up +49.96 points or 1.51% higher on lighter than average downside volume of 11.47 billion. The index has not traded with stronger than average upside volume above 12.58 billion for 10 consecutive weeks. 

The top price movers in the S&P 500 after the close of the market on Friday were (LYB) Lyondell Basell +6.30%, (URI) United Rentals +5.51%, (DVN) Devon Energy +5.49%, (IVZ) Invesco +5.33% and (OKE) Oneok +4.99%.

On the commodities front the price of gold and silver advanced as oil moved lower for the second straight week. The price of silver closed to end the week trading at $24.03 per ounce up $0.94 or 4.05% as gold ended the week trading at $1,907.60 per ounce up $41.30 or 2.21%. Both silver and gold are poised to move higher in the near term but for now all depends on the direction of the general market, the dollar as well as the outcome of the November presidential election.

In reference to the price of black gold there was a pullback of about 4% on Friday as global output from OPEC threatens to destroy any chance of recovery. The demand for oil has been down for several months due to Covid-19, but one of the latest factors in the past few months came at the end of August after the passing of Hurricane Laura in the Gulf of Mexico. 

Hurricane Laura created the largest production loss since 2008 forcing shut-ins of over 14 million barrels of crude oil. The (EIA) Energy Information Administration estimated that production fell to around 1.4 million barrels per day and expects for production in the Gulf of Mexico to recover by December of this year. It gas been a rough year for the oil industry.

The oil index ended the week trading at $37.05 per barrel down $3.20 or 7.95%. The oil index is currently down 13.77% in the past 5 weeks and based on the charts the pullback will likely continue.

 

By Marlin Rolle