US close: Brexit uncertainty weighs on Wall Street
Wall Street gave back some of its recent gains on Friday as traders turned more cautious, with a fair bit of market commentary referencing increased uncertainty ahead of the 23 June referendum as the main trigger behind the 'risk'-off' mood.
Upcoming monetary policy meetings from the Bank of England, Bank of Japan and the US Federal Reserve were also important risk-events to be navigated over the coming week, especially those of the BoJ and the Fed.
A decision was also expected from MSCI on whether it would include Chinese shares listed on the mainland in its own international indices.
The Dow Jones Industrials lost 0.67% or 119.85 points on Friday to finish the session at 17,865.34, alongside losses of 0.92% or 19.41 points for the S&P 500 and a 1.29% or 64.07 point retreat in the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite.
For the week as a whole, the S&P 500 lost 0.2% on its lowest trading volumes year-to-date, according to Bloomberg data.
Underlining the elevated uncertainty, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note closed lower by a hefty five basis points to 1.64%, while that on the policy-sensitive two-year note was down by four basis points at 0.73%.
Stoking interest in long-term government debt was the result of an ORB poll conducted on behalf of The Independent which revealed a ten-point lead for the 'Leave' campaign, with support for Bexit at 55%, four percentage points more than in the last such poll.
Also reflecting the clearly cautious mindset, gold futures tacked on further gains even in the face of another day of US dollar strength.
COMEX-traded gold futures for August delivery edged higher by four dollars to $1,275.90/oz..
Heading the other way were oil prices, pressured by the advance in the greenback and fresh survey data revealing a second consecutive weekly increase in the number of US oil rigs in operation.
Front month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures ended the session lower by 2.95% to $49.07 per barrel on NYMEX.
Optimism on the hiring front?
The University of Michigan's consumer confidence index for the start of June drifted lower from 94.7 to 94.3.
Economists had been expecting a reading of 94.0.
"The stability in consumer sentiment supports the view that the slowdown in May job growth was not a reflection of a broad-based downturn across the economy. Should job growth bounce back, as we expect it will, sentiment and spending should be key beneficiaries," Barclays's Jesse Hurwitz said in a research note sent to clients.
The US federal government deficit printed at $52.5bn for May (consensus: $56.0bn), which was well down on the $84.1bn seen one year ago, albeit entirely due to positive calendar effects.
Brexit concerns in the air
Adding to the cautious tone, worries about Britain’s June 23 referendum on European Union membership intensified after Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham warned there was a "very real prospect" of a Leave vote.
Burnham’s remarks came as the Labour Party on Friday claimed that leaving the EU could lead to £18bn of spending cuts and tax rises.
On the company front, Twitter shares fell trade after the social-media company on Thursday notified millions of users that their accounts are at risk of being taken over. A survey also showed Instagram was attracting more advertising than Twitter.
Tesla Motors slid after the electric car maker came under investigation for a potential defect in the suspension of its Model S.
H&R Block jumped after the tax-preparation specialist reported better-than-expected quarterly results.
Shares in Sophiris Bio rocketed after the biotech company reported promising results in a mid-stage clinical trial of its prostate cancer treatment.
From a sector standpoint, the worst performing industral groups were: Coal (-8.73%), Non-ferrous metals (-4.95%), consumer electronics (-3.77%) and Exploration and production (-3.73%).
S&P 500 - Risers
H&R Block Inc. (HRB) $24.23 +12.49%
Sealed Air Corp. (SEE) $48.16 +2.06%
Csra Inc. (CSRA) $24.26 +1.93%
Eastman Chemical Co. (EMN) $72.90 +1.56%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $52.67 +1.39%
Consolidated Edison Inc. (ED) $77.14 +0.78%
Weyerhaeuser Co. (WY) $30.59 +0.72%
Avery Dennison Corp. (AVY) $77.11 +0.71%
J. M. Smucker Co. (SJM) $144.24 +0.71%
LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) $80.47 +0.69%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $13.15 -10.79%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $14.90 -10.19%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $4.42 -9.43%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $16.48 -8.44%
Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR) $29.39 -7.61%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $43.21 -6.49%
Transocean Ltd. (RIG) $10.75 -6.28%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $35.12 -6.22%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $13.42 -5.89%
Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $26.32 -5.76%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $52.67 +1.39%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $45.99 +0.50%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $32.04 +0.31%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $55.11 +0.31%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $71.14 +0.07%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $83.20 +0.04%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $117.01 +0.01%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $149.89 -2.14%
Boeing Co. (BA) $131.14 -1.47%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $76.03 -1.46%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $63.84 -1.41%
Visa Inc. (V) $80.18 -1.33%
American Express Co. (AXP) $64.97 -1.13%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $139.24 -1.02%
3M Co. (MMM) $168.56 -0.92%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $98.83 -0.82%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $101.98 -0.81%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $82.47 +4.38%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $154.87 +0.53%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $32.04 +0.31%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $223.53 +0.25%
CA Inc. (CA) $32.99 +0.18%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $16.48 -8.44%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $42.02 -5.38%
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $52.73 -4.89%
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $218.79 -4.61%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $26.15 -4.32%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $36.57 -4.17%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $23.14 -4.14%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class C (DISCK) $25.26 -3.92%