The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the 30 largest US companies, closed at the highest peak for all time for another session. Investors have bettered that the impetus in the US economy will continue. The country’s gross domestic product surprised investors by more than 3% in the last two quarters. The Department of Commerce publishes its second reading on GDP for the third quarter of the US, which showed growth in the economy on an annual basis of 3.3%.
UnitedHealth and JPMorgan were among the top performers in the session, jumping 103.97 points to 23,940.68 points. The broad S & P500 reached a record for the day and closed at 2 626.07 points. The technology sector was down 2.6%, but some of the losses were offset by the financial sector, which rose by 1.8%. Retail sales in the US have risen since the season for holiday purchases has begun to take full effect. The shares of Macy’s and Nordstrom grew by 8.2% and 7.2%, respectively. Technological NASDAQ Composite lagged behind the S & P 500 and Dow Jones, closing 1.3% down to 6 824.34 points. Shares of technology giants Alphabet, Facebook and Netflix dropped sharply. Chipotle Mexican Grill said they were looking for a new CEO, after Steve Ells became the executive chairman. Shares of the company shot 5.6%.
Oil fell after an unstable session on Wednesday. The controversial statements by oil ministers one day before the OPEC meeting in Vienna, discussing a way to reduce supply, have created a black market volatility. The market was less affected by the 3.4m-barrel slower than expected crude oil reserves. Gasoline and distilleries have grown more than expected. Crude US oil fell by 69 cents to $57.30 a barrel. The Brent variety fell 53 cents to 63.08 dollars a barrel.
Good results for US GDP have led to a fall in gold prices. Spot prices of precious metal finished 0.78% down to $1 283.50 per troy ounce, while futures delivery prices in December were 0.95% lower to $1 286.90 an ounce. For other precious metals, palladium fell by 1.39% to $1,013.95 an ounce. Meanwhile, silver went up by 1.72% to $16.54 an ounce, and platinum fell 1.04% to $938.80 per troy ounce.
