US open: Stocks drift lower, Dow Jones at 20,000 proves too much to ask for

Wall Street was drifting lower in light-volume trading following the release of a weaker than expected reading on the state of factory activity in the US Midwest.

Slight losses in crude oil futures and a short-lived spike in the euro against the Greenback, in overnight trading, were also seen as sapping the strength of equities.

As of 1733 GMT the Dow Jones Industrials was down by 0.06% or 11.83 points to 19,806.52, while the Nasdaq Composite was falling 0.68% or 36.79 points to 5,395.48 and the S&P 500 was down 0.21% or 4.79 points at 2,244.42.

Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said: “Barring a miracle, Dow 20,000 looks off the cards, although the rebound in the index over the past year, as in other US markets, has been astounding. Only time will tell if the Trump euphoria can be sustained or whether we are due another correction early on in the New Year.”

So far on Friday, the Dow looked set to end the year up 13.7% and the S&P 500 by about 9.8%.

Meanwhile, oil prices were off by a smidgen, having gained earlier after data from the US Energy Information Administration on Thursday showed crude inventories rose by 614,000 barrels in the week 23 December, compared with expectations for a 1.2m barrel contraction.

West Texas Intermediate was 0.19% lower at $53.67 a barrel, while Brent crude was down 0.34% at $56.66.

From a sector standpoint, the biggest drag came from Coal (-2.20%), Aluminum (-2.07%) and Mining (-1.87%).

In Europe, the main indices ended the day a tad higher, with banks in focus again. On Thursday, the European Commission approved a six-month extension to allow the Italian government to revamp its banking system. In addition, newspaper reports on Friday suggested troubled lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena is planning to issue €15bn of debt next year to restore liquidity and lift investor confidence.

In London, Royal Bank of Scotland was in the spotlight following reports that small investors in the bank are pushing for it to set up a shareholder committee to give them a bigger say in areas such as executive pay.

A widely-followed barometre of manufacturing sector activity in the US Midwest fell back at the end of 2016, albeit after reaching an almost two-year high in the month before.

Market News International's Chicago factory sector purchasing managers' index slipped from 57.6 in November to a reading of 54.6 for December.

Economists had anticipated a smaller fall in the sometimes volatile index, to 57.0.

Nevertheless, MNI said in a statement that: "after a disappointing start to the fourth quarter, the latest results suggest economic conditions have improved somewhat, with the Barometer averaging 54.3 in Q4, the highest in two years."

The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was two basis points lower to 2.45%.

Dow Jones - Risers

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $239.48 0.55%
3M Co. (MMM) $179.31 0.50%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $86.25 0.42%
American Express Co. (AXP) $74.22 0.41%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $122.68 0.32%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $90.58 0.26%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $118.07 0.21%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $115.64 0.13%
Visa Inc. (V) $78.43 0.13%
Boeing Co. (BA) $155.88 0.12%

Dow Jones - Fallers

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $73.17 -0.87%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $115.72 -0.86%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $36.38 -0.75%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $62.43 -0.74%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $30.29 -0.56%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $53.46 -0.52%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $58.75 -0.49%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $92.91 -0.41%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $134.56 -0.40%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $122.33 -0.37%

S&P 500 - Risers

Endo International Plc (ENDP) $16.46 4.97%
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $23.41 2.92%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $38.30 2.46%
Macerich Co (MAC) $70.53 1.85%
General Growth Properties Inc. (GGP) $24.94 1.74%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $10.88 1.64%
Regions Financial Corp. (RF) $14.40 1.59%
Kimco Realty Corp. (KIM) $25.17 1.55%
Williams Companies Inc. (WMB) $31.48 1.50%
Quanta Services Inc. (PWR) $35.08 1.42%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $107.80 -3.26%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $33.74 -3.23%
Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) $34.47 -2.27%
Alcoa Corporation (AA) $28.29 -2.08%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $75.08 -1.93%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $31.29 -1.91%
Nucor Corp. (NUE) $59.86 -1.76%
News Corp Class B (NWS) $11.85 -1.66%
News Corp Class A (NWSA) $11.47 -1.63%
CBS Corp. (CBS) $63.51 -1.54%