US close: Stocks eke out small gain ahead of start of reporting season

Wall Street's most-followed equity gauge, the S&P 500, managed to trim its worst weekly loss in two months on Friday, as crude oil futures snapped higher and following upbeat remarks overnight from Fed chair Janet Yellen, ahead of the start of the corporate earnings season on 11 April.

The Dow Jones Industrials eked out a gain of 35 points or 0.20% to end the session at 17,576.96, alongside gains of 0.28% and 0.05% for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite, which saw the day out at 2,057.60 and 2,287.60 points, respectively.

Among industrial sectors, the biggest advances were for coal (7.04%), non-ferrous metals (5.42%) and Platinum&precious metals (4.34%).

Nevertheless, the S&P 500 finished off its best levels of the session and 1.2% lower for the week as a whole, its worst tally in two months.

Speaking at a panel before former Fed Chairs Ben Bernanke, Paul Volcker and Alan Greenspan at the International House in New York on Thursday, Yellen touted the strength of the labour market and rebuffed suggestions that an economic bubble is about to burst.

"I certainly wouldn't describe this as a bubble economy," Yellen said, responding to Republican presidential contender Donald Trump's claims.

"The US economy has continued to progress in a satisfactory way. We continue to see good job performance, some evidence of inflation moving up, so that was our expectation when we raised rates in December.”

S&P 500/US 10-year Tsy yield ratio near record high

Worth noting, the ratio between the S&P 500 and the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was at its highest closing in on its Feb 2015 highs, itself a record level, pointed out market strategist Ashraf Laidi in a Twitter post.

"A situation when risk appetite is manifested only via limited gains in equities rather than a full-fledged rally in yields and yen crosses could suggest that further gains in equities may be limited, especially as we approach another dismal US earnings season (low or negative earnings growth, high on cash and low on visibility)," Laidi said.

Some pundits instead saw the possibility for corporate earnings to beat analysts' gloomy forecasts, at least this quarter, thanks to a now more dovish Fed, a weaker US dollar and higher commodity prices generally.

Economists mark down GDP forecasts after inventories report

US wholesale inventories declined by 0.5% month-on-month in February (consensus: -0.2%), together with large downward revisions to the prior month's reading.

The data led economists at Barclays, Goldman Sachs ad JP Morgan to all pare their forecasts for US gross domestic product growth in the first three months of the year, to an annualised rate of just 0.2% from 0.7% in the case of the latter.

Oil and FX markets in focus

West Texas Intermediate crude surged $2.22 to end at $39.72 per barrel in NYMEX trading.

US oil drillers cut the number of rigs in operation by eight to 354 - a 13-year low - in the week ending on 8 April, the latest weekly tally from Baker Hughes revealed.

Crude oil prices also jumped on optimism about the US economy and hopes of an agreement between global producers at a meeting in Doha on 17 April.

In currency markets, the yen was softer after Japanese finance minister Taro Aso said he might act against what he called one-sided yen rises, having surged to a 17-month high versus the greenback in the previous session. Several analysts referenced the drag from a declining spread between Japanese and US 10-year government bond yields - as US rates fall back - as the main reason behind recent yen strength.

Retailers' shares unloved

On the corporate front, Gap was under the cosh, with its stock surrendering 14% - for the second largest fall on the NYSE - after the retailer posted a drop in March sales late on Thursday.

Restaurant operator Ruby Tuesday plunged as its latest quarterly earnings missed expectations.

Depomed Inc advanced after Starboard Value disclosed that the company and its affiliates own 9.8% of Depomed’s outstanding shares.

S&P 500 - Risers
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $8.68 +8.36%
CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) $11.86 +7.04%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $34.92 +6.37%
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) $48.29 +5.55%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $9.33 +5.42%
Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR) $25.69 +5.11%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $11.78 +4.99%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $28.77 +4.24%
Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO) $21.13 +4.19%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $3.76 +4.16%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UA) $43.54 -49.35%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $23.85 -13.84%
L Brands Inc (LB) $80.50 -4.34%
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) $46.99 -4.04%
Ralph Lauren Corp (RL) $91.24 -3.51%
CME Group Inc. (CME) $89.09 -3.39%
Coach Inc. (COH) $38.97 -3.32%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $404.94 -3.24%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $28.30 -2.65%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $110.63 -2.65%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $96.33 +1.62%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $46.87 +1.10%
American Express Co. (AXP) $59.50 +1.09%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $83.21 +1.02%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $149.35 +0.74%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $57.74 +0.73%
Boeing Co. (BA) $127.88 +0.69%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $115.23 +0.64%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $63.20 +0.62%
Visa Inc. (V) $78.03 +0.58%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Nike Inc. (NKE) $59.42 -1.46%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $125.68 -0.94%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $32.50 -0.79%
3M Co. (MMM) $166.63 -0.32%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $68.06 -0.23%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $133.62 -0.19%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $109.10 -0.16%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $127.96 -0.14%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $55.36 -0.11%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $150.28 -0.09%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Vimpelcom Ltd Ads (VIP) $3.93 +4.52%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $200.51 +3.29%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $39.02 +2.74%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $37.88 +2.52%
Ctrip.Com International Ltd. Ads (CTRP) $44.43 +2.47%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $10.72 +2.00%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $42.32 +1.93%
Nxp Semiconductors Nv (NXPI) $82.74 +1.82%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $32.22 +1.70%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $33.97 +1.65%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) $46.99 -4.04%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $404.94 -3.24%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $85.21 -2.94%
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $250.07 -2.77%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $28.30 -2.65%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $110.63 -2.65%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $77.47 -2.43%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $47.00 -2.23%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $62.24 -1.75%
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $52.38 -1.69%