Caterpillar shares close lower on Friday, a company plant in Aurora employing 800 people to be closed

According to a March 31st statement by Caterpillar Inc (CAT), its plant in Aurora, Illinois, which employs 800 people, is to be closed due to a shift in production to other factories across the United States. Caterpillars large wheel loaders and compactors are expected to be transitioned to a facility in Decatur, Illinois, while its medium wheel loaders are to be relocated to a plant in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

Caterpillar shares closed lower on Friday, while marking their sixth drop in the past nine trading sessions. The stock went down 0.49% ($0.46) to $92.76, after touching an intraday low at $92.02, or a price level not seen since March 28th ($91.51). In the week ended on April 2nd the shares of the heavy machinery manufacturer added 0.66% to their market value compared to a week ago, which marked the second gain in the past six weeks. The stock retreated 4.03% in March, following two consecutive months of gains. It has been the largest monthly drop since October 2016. For the entire past year, Caterpillar shares gained 36.46%.

The plant in Aurora is to be closed by the end of 2018.

“Out of about 800 production positions, about 500 positions would likely be added to Decatur and about 150 positions would be added in North Little Rock”, Lisa Miller, a spokesperson for Caterpillar, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

As of December 31st 2016, 95 400 persons were in full-time employment with Caterpillar, a regulatory filing showed. More than half of them (54 500 persons) were based outside the United States.

The heavy machinery producer has already reduced its workforce by over 16 000 people.

The company had previously said it expected to incur restructuring costs of about $500 million during the current year.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, today’s levels of importance for the Caterpillar stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $92.87
R2 – $92.98
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $93.10
R4 (Long Breakout) – $93.43
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $93.82
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $93.99

S1 – $92.65
S2 – $92.54
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $92.42
S4 (Short Breakout) – $92.09
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $91.70
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $91.53

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Caterpillar Inc (CAT) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $92.16
R1 – $93.97
R2 – $95.19
R3 – $97.00
R4 – $98.82

S1 – $90.94
S2 – $89.13
S3 – $87.91
S4 – $86.70