Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

Updated: June 21, 2019

The Dow is less than 0.5% from a record. Will it reach a new high Friday?

By Anneken Tappe | CNN Business

The Dow is less than half a percent off its all-time closing high. But stocks are set to open lower on Friday, as financial markets pull back from the week's big gains.

US stocks are pointing to a weaker open, with futures for the Dow down 0.2%. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are down 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively.

The S&P closed at a record high on Thursday, surpassing a previous record set on April 30. The Dow was just just 0.3% off its all-time closing high set in October.

For the week, the Dow is up 2.5%, while the S&P has gained 2.3%. The Nasdaq is up 3.3% for the week, according to Refinitiv.

"It's shaping up to be a relatively peaceful end to what has been an otherwise action-packed week," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.

Stocks rallied on Thursday in the aftermath of the Federal Reserve indicating it could cut interest rates up to two times this year to boost economic growth. Lower interest rates make is cheaper for companies to borrow money.

But amid all the excitement about a possible rate cut, tensions between the United States and Iran escalated. Iran shot down a US drone in international airspace earlier this week. Military retaliation from Washington was planned but called off.

Gold prices rose to six-year highs over night, inching above $1,400 an ounce. Prices were last up 0.2% at $1,395.30.

Gold is a traditional safe haven investment, for which demand increases when investors worry about economic or geopolitical developments. With the Fed pointing at enough weakness in the US economy to potentially cut rates, and tensions between the United States and Iran escalating, both drivers are in place.

Oil prices are also impacted by the developments. US oil futures were up more than 5% on Thursday, and continued to climb on Friday. They were last up 0.4% at $57.31 a barrel.

Sign up for Enews

Most Recent

Most Recent

0 Comments

Order a PDF