Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] Today's market activity was relatively subdued after yesterday's record highs for the major indices. The S&P 500 (-0.2%), Nasdaq Composite (-0.2%), and Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.6%) fluctuated around their prior closing levels, with the Russell 2000 trailing behind, closing 1.3% lower.

There was little urgency among sellers, but equally, buyer enthusiasm was muted, resulting in lackluster price action at the index level. In contrast, the cryptocurrency market showed notable strength, with Bitcoin surging above $100,000.

The semiconductor space was also in focus as the PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX) dropped 1.9% with no specific catalyst driving the selling. The price action here reflected normal profit-taking activity after a solid showing so far this week. The SOX is still 2.0% higher than last Friday. Nearly all the SOX components closed lower, including NVIDIA (NVDA 145.06, -0.07, -0.1%) and Broadcom (AVGO 170.47, -0.09, -0.1%).

In the mega-cap space, stocks traded in mixed fashion, contributing to the overall tepid market sentiment. Tesla (TSLA 369.49, +11.56, +3.2%) and Amazon.com (AMZN 220.55, +2.39, +1.1%) closed with gains, helping to drive the move higher in the S&P 500 consumer discretionary sector (+1.0%).

Retailer components showed relative weakness in the consumer discretionary sector as earnings reports from the space roll in this week. The SPDR S&P Retailer ETF (XRT) dropped 1.6%. Although they're not sector components, American Eagle Outfitters (AEO 17.61, -2.93, -14.3%), Dollar General (DG 79.60, +0.10, +0.1%), and Five Below (FIVE 115.97, +11.00, +10.5%) were among the standouts in the retail space after reporting earnings results. 

Treasury yields retreated from earlier highs, settling slightly mixed. The 10-year yield, which briefly surpassed 4.22%, settled unchanged for the day at 4.18%. The 2-year yield has eased from 4.17% to 4.15%, three basis points higher than yesterday.

In other news, OPEC+ agreed to extend the additional voluntary adjustments of 2.2 million barrels per day announced in November 2023 until the end of March 2025. WTI crude oil futures settled 0.4% lower at $68.30/bbl.

• Nasdaq Composite: +31.2%
• S&P 500: +27.4%
• S&P Midcap 400: +19.7%
• Russell 2000: +18.2%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: +18.8%

Reviewing today's economic data:

• Weekly Initial Claims 224K (Briefing.com consensus 213K); Prior was revised to 215K from 213K, Weekly Continuing Claims 1.871 mln; Prior was revised to 1.896 mln from 1.907 mln
  • The key takeaway from the report is that the totality of the report isn't signaling any major changes with respect to labor market trends, which have connoted some softening but no real breakage on the employment front.
• October Trade Balance -$73.8 bln (Briefing.com consensus -$75.1 bln); Prior was revised to -$83.8 bln from -$84.4 bln
  • The key takeaway from the report is that it reflects overall weakness in global trade activity in October.