Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] Many stocks are moving higher today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (+1.3%), Russell 2000 (+1.8%), and S&P 500 (+0.6%) trade near session highs while the Nasdaq Composite (+0.1%) trails its peers, clipped by losses in NVIDIA (NVDA 143.81, -2.11, -1.5%) and other mega caps.

NVIDIA reported impressive earnings results, but there may have been some disappointment its revenue growth rates are decelerating. Alphabet (GOOG 168.08, -9.25, -5.2%) is another influential laggard in the mega cap space after saying the DOJ "filed a staggering proposal that seeks dramatic changes to Google services," including forced sale of Chrome and potentially Android.

Just about everything else is coming along for the upside ride. The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) shows a 1.3% gain and advancers lead decliners by a 4-to-1 margin at the NYSE and by a 2-to-1 margin at the Nasdaq.

Ten S&P 500 sectors are higher and five of them trade up 1.0% or more. The financial sector leads the pack (+1.6%) while the communication services sector trades 2.1% lower, weighed down by GOOG.

Treasury yields moved up, but stocks haven't responded much. The 10-yr yield hit 4.38% earlier, but sits at 4.42% now.

Earlier, Chicago Fed President Goolsbee (2025 FOMC voter) said he thinks rates over the next year or so will end up a fair bit lower than where they are today, but they don't need to get to that place immediately.

The likelihood of a 25-basis points cut at the December FOMC meeting is close to a coin toss, standing at 55.9%, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Reviewing today's economic data:

• Weekly Initial Claims 213K (Briefing.com consensus 221K); Prior was revised to 219K from 217K, Weekly Continuing Claims 1.908 mln; Prior was revised to 1.872 mln from 1.873 mln
  • The key takeaway from the report is that the rising trend for continuing jobless claims connotes a softening labor market whereby it has become more challenging to find a new job after being laid off.
• November Philadelphia Fed Index -5.5 (Briefing.com consensus 7.0); Prior 10.3
• October Existing Home Sales 3.96 mln (Briefing.com consensus 3.90 mln); Prior was revised to 3.83 mln from 3.84 mln
  • The key takeaway from the report is that more inventory is becoming available, but with the ongoing increase in the median home price and mortgage rates remaining elevated, affordability constraints will persist, capping total sales potential.
• October Leading Home Sales -0.4% (Briefing.com consensus -0.3%); Prior was revised to -0.3% from -0.5%