Weekly Market Wrap: June 5, 2015
Friday, June 5, 2:46 PM ET

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Most actively traded stocks include Frontier Communications (FTR) up 0.80%, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) higher by 2.53%, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) lower by 0.43%, AT&T (NYSE:T) down 1.59% and Ford Motor (NYSE:F) down 1%.

The S&P 500, NASDAQ and Dow are all lower in the last five days of trading.

Crude oil futures are lower this week, trading at $58.22 per barrel on Friday afternoon.

And Gold futures are down this week, trading at $1170.42 an ounce this afternoon.

In economic news, in the week ending May 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 276,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 282,000 to 284,000. The 4-week moving average was 274,750, an increase of 2,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 500 from 271,500 to 272,000.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 280,000 in May, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 5.5 percent, the U.S.Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Job gains occurred in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and healthcare. Mining employment continued to decline.

In May, both the unemployment rate (5.5 percent) and the number of unemployed persons (8.7 million) were essentially unchanged. Both measures have shown little movement since February.

In corporate dividend news, GE (NYSE:GE) declared a $0.23 per share dividend on the outstanding common stock of the Company payable July 27, 2015 to shareowners of record at the close of business on June 22, 2015. The ex-dividend date is June 18, 2015.

Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) declared a quarterly dividend of 49 cents per share on the company's common stock. The dividend relates to the company's third quarter of its 2015 fiscal year and is payable on July 24, 2015 to shareowners of record on July 2, 2015.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) declared a quarterly dividend of 55 cents per outstanding share, unchanged from the previous quarter. The dividend is payable on Aug. 3, 2015, to Verizon Communications shareowners of record at the close of business on July 10, 2015.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) authorized payment of a cash dividend of $0.50 per share, to be paid on June 24, 2015, to all shareholders of record of UnitedHealth Group common stock as of the close of business on June 15, 2015. This dividend represents a 33 percent increase over the quarterly dividend of $0.375 per share the Company has been paying since the second quarter of 2014.

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) has voted to increase the cash dividend to an annual rate of 48 cents per share, representing a 9% increase from the present rate. The first quarterly dividend at the new rate of 12 cents per share will be paid on July 1, 2015 to stockholders of record at the close of business on June 15, 2015.

Staples (NASDAQ:SPLS) has declared a quarterly cash dividend on Staples, Inc. common stock of $0.12 per share. The dividend is payable on July 16, 2015, to shareholders of record on June 26, 2015.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (NYSE:HOT) declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.375 per share. The regular quarterly dividend will be paid on June 17, 2015 to stockholders of record on June 8, 2015.

This is the 'Weekly Market Wrap' for Friday June 5, 2015.

Please join us on Monday for the Week Ahead Market Report.

For MarketNewsVideo.com, I'm Sayoko Murase.