Consumer stocks were lower Friday afternoon, with the State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) decreasing 0.2% and the State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) falling 1.8%.
In corporate news, Starbucks (SBUX) said it will cut 300 US support jobs as the coffee giant consolidates regional offices to reduce costs and streamline operations. Shares were down 0.2%.
Natural gas prices rose early Friday on warming long-term forecasts while a day-prior storage report met expectations. Gas for June delivery was last seen up US$0.06 to US$2.95 per million British thermal units.The rise comes as long-term forecasts from the National Weather Service see all states with seasonal or warmer temperatures over its eight to 14 day forecast offering high cooling demand.In its weekly report issued Thursday, the Energy Information Administration said U.S. inventories of the fuel rose by 85-billion cubic feet last week, near expectations and leaving stocks at 2.29-trillion cubic feet, 6.5% above the five-year average."After the storage report printed in line with expectations a slight adjustment to weather outlooks proved just enough for the market to firm and test the resistance just under $2.90," Gary Cunningham, Director of Market Research at Tradition Energy, wrote.
Energy stocks were advancing pre-bell Friday, with the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) up 0.8%.The United States Oil Fund (USO) was up 2% and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 1.7% higher.Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was 2.7% higher at $103.89 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil rose 2.1% to $107.96 per barrel, and natural gas futures were up 1.9% at $2.95 per million British Thermal Units.Exxon Mobil (XOM) was found not liable by a Texas jury in a lawsuit accusing the oil major of misleading investors about its Canadian oil sands and Rocky Mountain gas operations, Reuters reported. Exxon Mobil stock was 0.5% higher premarket.BP (BP) is contemplating selling certain natural gas assets in Egypt, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. BP shares were marginally lower pre-bell.
Gold traded sharply lower early Friday as the dollar and yields climbed on concerns around inflation and concerns the rise in oil prices will force central banks to hike interest rates.Gold for June delivery was last seen down $136.10 to US$4,549.20 per ounce, the lowest since May 4.The drop comes as traders continue to turn to the dollar and bonds to counter fears of higher interest rates, seeing gold as no safe store of value amid rising inflation. The United States this week reported consumer and wholesale prices surged last month as the war on Iran produced the largest-ever energy supply shock, pushing up oil prices by half."Inflation data saw yields rise and gold fall. Overall, the Iran conflict has held gold back despite the abundant uncertainty. We still expect for that uncertainty to turn more gold positive eventually," Christopher Louney, a gold and natural gas analyst at RBC Capital Markets, wrote.The dollar rose early, with the ICE dollar index last seen up 0.41 points to 99.23, the highest since April 7. Treasury yields were also sharply higher. The yield on the two-year note was last seen up 4.1 basis points to 4.071, while the 10-year note was paying 4.563%, up 7.4 points to the highest since May 21. 2025.