It’s cold enough to turn a body blue
Pedestrians pass a lobster ice sculpture near the New England Aquarium in Boston on Thursday as the temperature hovers in the low teens. Natural gas prices rose nearly 7 percent amid frigid U.S. temperatures.
U.S. stock indexes wrung out a modest gain during another quiet session on Wall Street Thursday, nudging the Dow Jones industrial average to a new high, 24,837.51, ahead of the final trading day of 2017.
Some energy stocks received a boost from natural gas prices, which jumped nearly 7 percent to $2.914 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the biggest percentage gain since Oct. 30. Gas rose as temperatures dropped across much of the U.S. Crude oil also closed higher.
The increase in natural gas prices gave some energy companies a boost. Chesapeake Energy was the biggest gainer in the S&P 500 index, climbing 16 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $4.04.
Financial stocks accounted for much of Wall Street’s gains. The sector benefited from rising bond yields, which help banks because they are able to charge higher interest rates on loans.
Consumer-goods makers lagged the broad rally, which gave the market its second higher finish in a row. The stock market seldom declines this time of year, noted John Serrapere, director of research at Arrow Funds.
“It’s a light, light, light calendar,” Serrapere said. “Normally between Christmas and New Year’s you get a positive, muted upslope in the markets.”
The price of bitcoin declined for the second day in a row, sliding 9 percent to $13,995 as of 3:56 p.m. Central time, according to the tracking site CoinDesk. Bitcoin futures on the Cboe Futures Exchange fell 8 percent to $13,755.
South Korea’s government announced additional measures Thursday to curb speculative trading of virtual currencies in the country, including a ban on opening anonymous accounts.