Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] Following a seven-week win streak, the S&P 500 (+0.5%) and Nasdaq Composite (+0.6%) closed with gains thanks to strength in their mega cap components while the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed flat and the Russell 2000 declined 0.1%.

There was not a lot of conviction on either side of the tape today. Decliners had a fractional lead over advancers at the NYSE and an 11-to-10 lead at the Nasdaq. The lack of strong selling interest after big gains since late October was its own support factor for stocks, along with a buzz of M&A activity, highlighted by Nippon Steel's $55.00 per share all cash offer for U.S. Steel (X 49.59, +10.26, +26.1%), and a fear of missing out on further gains. 

Nine of the 11 S&P 500 sectors registered gains while two of them declined. The communication services (+1.9%) and consumer staples (+1.1%) sectors climbed more than 1.0%. Meanwhile, the rate-sensitive real estate (-0.4%) and utilities (-0.3%) sectors were alone in the red by the close.

The Treasury market experienced modest selling activity, especially in longer-dated tenors. The 2-yr note settled unchanged at 4.46% and the 10-yr note yield rose three basis points to 3.96%.

That price action was partially related to rising oil prices ($72.82, +1.42, +2.0%), which followed reports of several shipping companies, including BP, suspending travel through the Red Sea because of attacks on vessels by Houthi militants.

Treasuries had also been reacting to Chicago Fed President Goolsbee (2023 FOMC voter) telling CNBC he was a bit confused by the market's reaction to the latest FOMC meeting/comments, and Cleveland Fed President Mester (2024 voter) telling FT that the market is a little bit ahead of the Fed's rate-cut view. San Francisco Fed President Daly (2024 FOMC voter), however, said she thinks it's appropriate for the Fed to begin looking ahead to lowering rates in 2024, mindful not to over tighten, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The fed funds futures market still aligns more closely with the views of Ms. Daly rather than of Mr. Goolsbee and Ms. Mester, maintaining a line on six rate cuts by the Fed before the end of 2024, with the first cut coming in March.

Today's economic data was limited to the NAHB Housing Market Index climbed to 37 in December (Briefing.com consensus 38) from 34 in November.

Tuesday's economic calendar features November Building Permits (Briefing.com consensus 1.46 million; prior 1.487 million) and Housing Starts (Briefing.com consensus 1.36 million; prior 1.372 million) at 8:30 a.m. ET. 

• Nasdaq Composite: +42.4%
• S&P 500: +23.5%
• S&P Midcap 400: +13.2%
• Dow Jones industrial Average: +12.6%
• Russell 2000: +12.6%