The Dow slips as oil prices drop to their lowest point since early July

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower Thursday, as investors took a break from the rally seen this month.

The 30-stock Dow slipped 45.74 points, or 0.13 per cent, to close at 34,945.47. The S&P 500 ticked higher by 0.12 per cent and ended the session at 4,508.24. The Nasdaq Composite inched up by 0.07 per cent, closing at 14,113.67.

Cisco Systems shed nearly 10 per cent a day after the networking hardware maker offered weak guidance for the current quarter and full fiscal year. Walmart slid 8 per cent after the world’s largest retailer issued a lower-than-expected forecast for the year. Both stocks were the biggest decliners in the Dow.

Oil prices dropped to their lowest point since early July, prompting OPEC+ to contemplate extending and intensifying production cuts during their upcoming meeting in Vienna in response to Brent crude's 5.2 per cent decline to just below $77 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate's 5.5 per cent drop to $72.48 a barrel, which is below the critical $80 level for Saudi Arabia and Russia's government budgets.

Shares of Chevron fell 1.6 per cent on the news.

As a result, Energy was the worst performing US sector, closing lower by over 2 per cent. Communication Services was the best performer.

Better-than-expected inflation data has boosted stocks this month. With November about halfway through, the S&P 500 is up more than 7 per cent for the month, while the Dow has advanced more than 5 per cent. The Nasdaq has leapt over 9 per cent in the period.

October’s producer price index, a gauge of wholesale prices, slid 0.5 per cent. That marked its biggest monthly decline since April 2020.

That came a day after the consumer price index remained flat for October, another encouraging sign for investors hoping the Federal Reserve has seen the path of inflation cool enough to stop hiking interest rates. Tuesday’s session brought the biggest gains for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq since April.

Futures

The SPI futures are pointing to a flat start.

Currency

One Australian dollar at 8:20 AM was buying 64.71 US cents.

Commodities

Gold added 1.00 per cent. Silver gained 1.13 per cent. Copper lost 0.66 per cent. Oil dropped 4.88 per cent.

Figures around the globe

European markets closed mixed. London’s FTSE fell 1.01 per cent, Frankfurt added 0.24 per cent, and Paris closed 0.57 per cent lower.

Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 0.28 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.36 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.71 per cent lower.

The Australian share market closed 0.67 per cent lower at 7058.

Ex-dividends
Soul Pattinson (W.H) (ASX:SOL) is paying 51 cents fully franked

Dividends payable
Cromwell Property Group (ASX:CMW)

Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.

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