Stock Market Today – Stocks Finish Today’s Session in Positive Territory

Last Updated 4:05 PM EST

Stock indices finished today’s trading session in the green. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.28%, 0.6%, and 0.97%, respectively.

The energy sector was the session’s laggard, as it fell 1.14%. Conversely, the consumer discretionary sector was the session’s leader, with a gain of 1.46%. In addition, WTI crude oil fell as it hovers around the mid-$77 range.

Furthermore, the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield decreased to 3.69%, a decrease of more than six basis points. Similarly, the Two-Year Treasury yield also decreased, as it hovers around 4.49%.

The Atlanta Federal Reserve updated its latest GDPNow reading, which allows it to estimate GDP growth in real time. The “nowcast” becomes more accurate as more economic data is released throughout the quarter. Currently, it estimates that the economy will expand by about 4.3% in the fourth quarter.

This is higher than its previous estimate of 4.2%, which can be attributed to recent data released from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Association of Realtors.

Nevertheless, inflation continues to be a problem around the world. Therefore, it’ll be interesting to see what the actual GDP growth will be and how it’ll change going forward as higher rates start to impact the economy.

Federal Reserve Releases Meeting Minutes

Last Updated 2:15PM EST

Stocks are in the green heading into the final hours of today’s session. As of 2:15 p.m. EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq 100 are up 0.3%, 0.5%, and 0.8%, respectively.

The Federal Reserve meeting minutes were released today, which showed that the central bank isn’t done raising interest rates. Unfortunately, there just isn’t enough evidence to suggest that inflation is falling in a way that’s convincing enough. The most recent inflation report came in at 7.7%, which is way higher than the 2% target.

Nevertheless, officials began discussing the use of smaller interest rate hikes going forward. Indeed, markets are expecting a 50 basis point rate hike for December.

Indices are Mixed; Durable Goods Orders Beat Expectations

Last Updated 12:00PM EST

Stocks are mixed halfway into Wednesday’s trading session. As of 12:00 p.m. EST, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 are up 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively. On the other hand, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 0.1%

On Wednesday, the Census Bureau released its U.S. Core Durable Goods Orders report for the month of October, which measures the change in order value for long-lasting big-ticket items. This report excludes the impact of aircraft orders because they tend to be very volatile. Therefore, it is generally agreed upon that the core reading provides a better gauge of ordering trends.

For October, Core Durable Goods Orders grew by 0.5%, which was better than the expected 0.1% on a month-over-month basis. This was much better than last month’s decline of -0.9% and demonstrates that there is still some demand for big-ticket items. When including aircraft orders, Durable Goods Orders grew by 1%, which beat expectations of 0.4%.

Nevertheless, it is important to remember that this is a lagging indicator, meaning that the current demand has the potential to be much lower as inflation continues to impact people’s purchasing power.

Stocks Rise; Jobless Claims Miss Expectations

Last Updated 10:00AM EST

Stock indices are in the green to start today’s trading session. As of 10:00 a.m. EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq 100 are up 0.3%, 0.4%, and 0.7%, respectively.

On Wednesday, the Department of Labor released its Initial Jobless Claims report, which came in worse than expected. In the past week, 240,000 people filed for unemployment insurance for the first time. Expectations were for 225,000 individuals.

When using the four-week average, initial jobless claims were 226,750, up from last week’s reading of 221,250. It’s worth noting that this figure has been in an overall uptrend since the end of September.

In addition, Continuing Jobless Claims, which measures the number of unemployed people who qualify for unemployment insurance, came in at 1.551 million. This was above the forecast of 1.517 million and higher than last week’s print of 1.503 million.

Continuing Jobless Claims are currently sitting near their lowest levels since 1970. Relatively speaking, this suggests that individuals aren’t struggling to find other jobs after being laid off.

However, this number has been slowly increasing recently as the Federal Reserve’s tightening policy begins taking effect. Thus, it’ll likely continue to rise as more companies announce layoffs.

Stock Market Today: Futures Up Ahead of Fed’s Meeting Minutes

First Published 7:18AM EST

U.S. stock futures were trending higher early on Wednesday as investors looked forward to the meeting minutes of the last Federal Reserve meeting from earlier this month. The update will provide more clarity on December’s policy approach.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 0.05%, while those on the S&P 500 (SPX) gained 0.08%, as of 7.00 a.m. EST, Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) futures advanced 0.08%.

Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) was a major pre-market mover, down by almost 10% at the last check in the pre-market session Wednesday even as the company beat top and bottom line estimates in Q3 and reaffirmed its guidance. Investors were most likely looking for a guidance raise and were disappointed that the expectations were kept pat, suggesting that this is as good as it gets for Nordstrom.

What Happened Tuesday

After initial jitters, investors shrugged off concerns of another series of COVID-19-related lockdowns in China after yet another resurgence of cases. The S&P 500, the Dow, and the Nasdaq 100 closed the day with gains of 1.36%, 1.18%, and 1.48%, respectively.

Volumes remained low yesterday ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, and this is expected to continue on Wednesday.

Investors were more focused on earnings reports and hopes for a dovish monetary policy from the Fed.

Oil Shipping Costs Surge

Meanwhile, the costs of shipping oil to different ports across the world spiraled higher, pulling up energy prices and threatening to fuel inflation.

The ceaseless war in Ukraine has disrupted several short oil trading routes across the Baltic and North seas. Moreover, with dwindling Russian oil export to Europe and the latter looking for other suppliers, the time taken for tankers to reach destinations has increased. This is the root of the price surge.

What Awaits Wednesday

On the economic front, the latest Fed meeting minutes will be up for review on Wednesday for understanding the central bank’s stance on inflation and its policy approach for the December meeting.

Weekly initial jobless claims will also be out, revealing more details about how the labor market is coping. With the high number of layoffs in tech, a spike in the claims are expected. Dow Jones survey forecasts 225,000 for the week ending November 19, which is higher than the prior week’s 222,000.

Markets will be closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving and will be open until 1 p.m. on Friday.

Disclosure