Page One
There was a lot of good in yesterday's trading action. When NVIDIA (NVDA) traded lower, the broader market traded up, and when NVIDIA rebounded, the broader market went to higher ground. The Russell 2000 powered its way to a 1.7% gain and so did the S&P Midcap 400; meanwhile, the equal-weighted S&P 500 advanced 1.3%.
The Nasdaq Composite, which was flat, didn't tell the story, but breadth figures did. Advancers outpaced decliners by a better than 3-to-1 margin at the NYSE and by a 2-to-1 margin at the Nasdaq.
There was a lot of buying interest in Thursday's trade. There isn't much this morning.
Market participants are waiting to see if there will be follow through on yesterday's gains, hopeful that there will be but mindful that already stretched valuations are challenging breakout efforts.
We dare say that there might even be a little concern that the animal spirits are getting a little too raucous, evidenced by a crypto investor paying over $6 million to purchase a banana duct taped to a wall. The value reportedly is the certificate verifying the authenticity of the artwork and not the banana itself. We'll leave it at that other than to say it is a sign of the times.
We digress.
The equity futures market is mixed this morning, taking in some good earnings reports from the likes of NetApp (NTAP), Elastic (ESTC), The Gap (GAP), and Ross Stores (ROST) and balancing that with some flash PMI readings out of Europe that were soft (and disappointing), and the ongoing waiting game to hear who President-elect Trump will nominate to be Treasury Secretary.
There is a Wall Street Journal report that suggests Kevin Warsh could get the nod as a precursor to replacing Fed Chair Powell when his term expires in 2026. A corollary to that possibility is potentially naming Scott Bessent as NEC Director now and then having him slot into the Treasury Secretary position should Mr. Warsh take over as Fed Chair.
It's all still a guessing game and the market is anxiously awaiting an answer on this key position.
Currently, the S&P 500 futures are down six points and are trading 0.1% below fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are down 44 points and are trading 0.2% below fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up eight points and are trading roughly in-line with fair value.
Treasury yields are not a point of disruption at this juncture. The 2-yr note yield is down two basis points to 4.33% and the 10-yr note yield is down four basis points to 4.39%.
Today's economic lineup features the preliminary November S&P Global US Manufacturing and Services PMI reports at 9:45 a.m. ET and the Final November University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment at 10:00 a.m. ET.
Right now, the stock market is marking time until the open, trying not to slip on any bananas.
