Stock Market News Today, 11/20/23 – Stocks Close Higher, Led by Tech
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Stock Market News Today, 11/20/23 – Stocks Close Higher, Led by Tech

Story Highlights

Stocks closed higher on Monday, beginning the Thanksgiving week on a positive footing.  

Last updated 4:07PM EST

Stock indices finished today’s trading session in the green, as the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), S&P 500 (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 1.19%, 0.74%, and 0.58%, respectively.

The Utilities sector (XLU) was the session’s top loser, as it lost 0.31%. Conversely, the Technologies sector (XLK) was the session’s leader, with a gain of 1.48%.

Furthermore, the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield saw a slight decrease to 4.42%. The Two-Year Treasury yield was also little changed, as it hovers around 4.92%.

Meanwhile, Christopher Wood, head of global equity strategy at Jefferies, noted that the influence of the Magnificent 7 megacaps extends beyond Wall Street. 

Indeed, Wood stated that the stocks–Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Meta (NASDAQ:META), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)–accounts for over 17 percentage points of influence in the MSCI World Index (NYSEARCA:URTH). 

Furthermore, the analyst mentioned that the Magnificent 7 have maintained some resilience against recession risks. This performance has been driven by their global exposure, as they generate, on average, 53% of their revenue outside of the U.S. 

Nevertheless, Wood added that “at some point, even their valuations should become vulnerable to the impact of monetary tightening.”

Last updated:9:30AM EST

Stocks opened lower to start the week, with the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), S&P 500 (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) up by 0.25%, 0.06%, and 0.03%, respectively, at 9:30 a.m. EST, November 20.

First published: 4:01AM EST

U.S. Futures are down on Monday morning, beginning the shortened trading week on a negative note. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), S&P 500 (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are down by 0.11%, 0.07%, and 0.04%, respectively, at 3:55 a.m. EST, November 20.

The three major averages finished the prior trading week with positive gains thanks to the cooling inflation reports. Meanwhile, the U.S. 10-year treasury yield is down, floating near 4.46% at the time of writing. And the WTI crude oil futures are hovering near $76.49 per barrel as of the last check.

On the corporate front, notable earnings this week include Zoom Video (ZM), Nvidia (NVDA), Baidu (BIDU), Lowe’s (LOW), and Deere (DE). Further, General Motors’ (GM) self-driving unit, Cruise’s CEO Kyle Vogt apologized to Cruise employees for the dismal condition of the unit while also stepping down from his role on Saturday.

Remarkably, the abrupt dismissal of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sent shockwaves among the fraternity on Friday. The weekend-long saga was filled with investor and employee outbursts. The majority owner, Microsoft (MSFT), pushed for the board to reinstate Altman, but they have instead hired Emmett Shear as Interim CEO. In a surprise retaliating move, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella disclosed this morning that Altman and President Greg Brockman (also fired) will join the tech giant. Both experts will lead MSFT’s new advanced AI research team.

Elsewhere, European markets began the day’s trading mixed as markets looked past the earnings season and contemplated the central bank’s interest rate decisions. Notably, the Eurozone’s inflation print for October came in cooler than expected at 2.9%.

Asia-Pacific Markets End Higher on Monday

A majority of Asia-Pacific indices ended in the green on Monday. The People’s Bank of China left its benchmark one-year and five-year loan prime rates unchanged today.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and China’s Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component indexes ended higher by 1.86%, 0.46%, and 0.43%, respectively.

On the contrary, Japan’s Nikkei and Topix indices finished lower by 0.59% and 0.77%, respectively.

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