Dow finished down 39, advancers over decliners 2-1 & NAZ gained 384. The MLP index was up 1+ to the 231s & the REIT index rose 6+ to the 406s. Junk bond funds continued in demand & Treasuries pretty much were even at the close. Oil slid back to the 76s & gold, after reaching 1975, finished down 13 to settle at 1929 (more on both below).
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Ford's (F) new US vehicle sales started 2023 on a stronger footing than a year earlier but were down 18.4% from Dec. Jan is historically one of the weakest months of the year, while Dec is one of the strongest. Still, the month-over-month decline is notable as the worst for the automaker since a 28% drop between May & Jun of last year. Between Dec 2021 & Jan 2022, sales declined 17.4%. For Jan, Ford reported a 2% increase in sales from a year earlier to 146K vehicles sold. The uptick was led by sales increases of 8.8% for F-Series pickups, 25.5% for Broncos & 52% for Bronco Sport SUVs — as well as a doubling of its electric vehicle sales, which have been and remain minimal. EVs made up 3.6% of Ford's monthly sales. Some of the automaker’s crossovers such as the Ford Edge & Escape experienced double-digit declines from a year earlier. The stock rose 50¢.
If you would like to learn more about Ford, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/F_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Ford’s U.S. sales start 2023 on strong footing, boosted by F-Series and Bronco
Mortgage rates drop to the 5% range for the first time since September
Gold futures settled lower to tally back-to-back losses. Prices for the precious metal had traded higher overnight & early today, but gold gave up those gains with buyers & sellers jockeying for positions as prices pave a path toward what will likely be the last rate hike by the Federal Reserve, if there's a hike at all. Gold for Apr fell $12 (0.6%) to settle at $1930 an ounce after trading as high as $1975.
Gold futures post a second straight session loss
WTI oil prices finished down 53¢ (0.7%) lower at a new, 3-week-low of $75.88 a barrel in another wobbly, rangebound market. WTI crude prices traded as high as $77.24 intraday & as low as $74.97. The market had high expectations at the end of 2022 that the winding down of the sales of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve would cause US commercial crude-oil inventories to fall & cause oil prices to spike higher, & that China's reopening would further lift the market. Instead, US inventories have seen a string of rather large weekly builds in US inventories, China's reopening is yet to fully materialize & a US economic slowdown seems to be keeping domestic fuel demand low.
Oil Ends Lower in Choppy, Rangebound Trading
There was a great deal of uneven trading in stocks & major commodities today. Investors are looking for direction. The Dow chart below shows it has been trending sideways between 33-34K for 3 about months. Recession thoughts have not gone away.
Dow Jones Industrials
