Friday's Market Recap - Banner Year For Stocks, As Dow Up 25%, Nasdaq Up 28%, And S&P Rose 1

What is The Premarket Telling Us?

7:00 AM

Will the Santa Claus rally continue? It surely looks that way early in the premarket session. US stock futures are moderately higher with Dow futures up 62 points, Nasdaq 15.25 points, and S&P futures up 4.75 points.

On The Bond Desk:

The US 10 year bond yield sits at 2.43%, up two basis points.

Currency Desk:

Euro dollar higher at 1.19

UK Pound at 1.35

Crude Oil:

WTI crude oil futures pointing higher at $60.11/barrel, up 0.45%.

On the Earnings Calendar:

None

In M&A News:

None

What About The Asian And European Markets?

Major Asian markets were mixed on the last trading day of the year. Japan (Nikkei 225) fell 0.08%, Shanghai rose 0.33%, and Hong Kong (Hang Seng) gained 0.19%.

European markets finished the year mixed. Germany DAX down 0.48%, France CAC 40 fell 0.50%, and London FTSE 100 gained 0.85%.

Market And Sector Dynamics

US markets opened modestly higher on the final trading day of 2017. The Dow gained 19 points, Nasdaq gained 2 points, and the S&P added 3 points.

Stock turned shortly after the open, and remained modestly in negative territory for most of the remaining trading session. Just before the close however, markets drifted even lower, as news broke that Russian ships may have also been exchanging oil with North Korean vessels, at sea.

Nine of the eleven S&P Sectors traded with modest losses during today's session, led by technology, healthcare, consumer cyclicals, financials, industrials, and basic materials.

Factors Influencing Today's Market

• Crude oil continues to push higher in the session. WTI crude oil close at $60.42/barrel, up 0.97%.

• Baker Hughes Oil rig count remains unchanged this week at 747 total rigs.

• Goldman Sachs announced today it will have to take a $5 billion charge for 4 Qtr. 2017, due to the new tax bill.

Market Close Volume Traded And Advance Decline Ratio

When markets closed on the final trading day of 2017, the Dow sank 118.29 points, Nasdaq fell 46.77 points, and the S&P lost 13.93 points. Total NYSE volume traded, a light 2.41 billion shares. Decliners outpaced Advancers nearly 2:1.

Data Sources: Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN Money, Google Finance, Market Watch, TD Ameritrade, Yahoo Finance.