Wall St. up for sixth straight week despite oil rout
Credit: Reuters/Brendan McDermid
A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange August 15, 2014.
* Wall Street was closed for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and will shut three hours earlier on Friday. Trading volatility could spike since many market participants were extending the holiday.
* U.S. crude futures CLc1 slumped 6.5 percent to $68.93 per barrel. It was the biggest one-day drop for crude since May 2011, and brought prices to their lowest since 2010. On Thursday, OPEC decided not to cut output, which could leave oil markets heavily oversupplied.
* Energy shares have been under pressure throughout 2014 as crude prices has slid almost 36 percent from a recent closing high. The S&P energy sector .SPNY is the only S&P 500 industry group to be lower for the year, down 4.3 percent.
* The Energy Select Sector SPDR exchange-traded fund (XLE.P) fell 4.7 percent to $81.31 in premarket trading while Dow component Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) lost 4.5 percent to $90.20, on track for its biggest one-day drop since August 2011. Chevron Corp (CVX.N) fell 4.3 percent to $100.20 while Halliburton Co (HAL.N) lost 6 percent to $44.50.
* The weakness in oil could be a boon for the holiday shopping season with lower gas prices possibly sparking increased consumer spending.
* The decline in oil boosted airline shares premarket. American Airlines Group Inc (AAL.O) rose 4.9 percent to $47.18 before the bell while JetBlue Airways Corp (JBLU.O) was up 6.6 percent to $14.50. Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N) jumped 5.1 percent to $46.50.
* The premarket decline suggested major indexes may not post a sixth straight weekly advance. For the week so far, the Dow is up 0.1 percent and the S&P is up 0.5 percent. The Nasdaq is up 1.6 percent, boosted by strength in technology shares, a trend that continued on Friday and lifted Nasdaq futures. Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O) rose 0.6 percent to $27.59.
* Equities have been strong, with the Dow and S&P 500 both closing at records on Wednesday.
Futures snapshot at 6:46:
* S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 were down 4.5 points, or 0.22 percent, with 149,545 contracts changing hands.
* Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQc1 added 7.75 points, or 0.18 percent, in volume of 25,684 contracts.
* Dow e-minis 1YMc1 were down 34 points, or 0.19 percent, with 27,490 contracts changing hands.
(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
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