Investing.com — U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday, ending the first week of the new year on a positive note, ahead of data that should provide more insight into the health of the world’s largest economy.
At the close, the index rose 0.8%, the index rose 1.3% and the index climbed 1.7%.
Major Wall Street indexes reported stellar gains in 2024, but expectations of slower rate cuts and policy uncertainty under incoming President Donald Trump have undermined this sentiment.
ISM manufacturing PMI data released
On a relatively quiet day for economic data, investors will have a chance to review U.S. factory activity data for December later in the session.
The Institute for Supply Management’s figures for the manufacturing sector cooled slightly to 48.2 last month, compared to a five-month high of 48.4 in November. A reading below 50 usually indicates a contraction in the sector, which makes up more than 10% of the US economy.
It was the eighth month in a row that the measure was below the 50-point threshold, although the figure remained above a level of 42.5, which the ISM said signals broader economic expansion.
plummets due to blocked takeover
In the corporate world, shares of United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:) fell more than 6.6% after President Joe Biden said Friday he would approve the $14.9 billion takeover of the U.S. steel company by Japanese company Nippon Steel would block, citing reasons related to national security and keeping the storied American firm domestically owned and operated.
Rivian automotive sector (NASDAQ:) Shares rose more than 24% on the best day since November 2021 after the EV maker beat analysts’ expectations for fourth-quarter deliveries and said production was no longer limited by a component shortage, a positive sign for the electric vehicle manufacturer aimed at achieving the first profits.
Shares of Apple (NASDAQ:) fell 0.2%, adding to the previous session’s losses, after data released Friday by a government-linked research firm showed that shipments to China of smartphones from foreign brands, including the iPhone, fell by 47.4% in 2013. November compared to a year earlier, lower for the fourth month.
Shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:) rose 0.9% after the Facebook owner appointed prominent Republican Joel Kaplan as Chief Global Affairs Officer, replacing Nick Clegg, who was previously the British Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the the country’s center-left Liberal Democrats. .
Crude oil is heading higher
Oil prices rose slightly on Friday, adding to gains from the previous session, amid hopes for policy support to revive economic growth in China, the world’s biggest crude importer.
US crude oil futures (WTI) rose 0.9 to $74.01 per barrel, while the Brent contract rose 1% to $76.7 per barrel.
Both contracts closed Thursday at their highest levels in more than two months and are on track for their second weekly rise after investors returned from vacation, improving trading liquidity.
Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this week promised a more proactive policy to boost growth, while the Financial Times reported on Friday that China’s central bank plans to cut interest rates from the current level of 1 this year “at an appropriate time”. .5%.
(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)
