Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages continue to inch higher, now sitting a touch off of their opening high levels. 

The consumer discretionary sector (+1.0%) has advanced at a quicker pace and is now one of the best-performing S&P 500 sectors. Travel-related names such as Expedia Group (EXPE 281.04, +9.48, +3.49%) and Royal Caribbean (RCL 284.95, +7.18, +2.58%) are among some of the top movers this morning, while Amazon (AMZN 234.22, +2.91, +1.26%) and Tesla (TSLA 437.23, +5.79, +1.34%) provide solid mega-cap leadership. 

The Bureau of Economic Analysis released the Personal Income/Outlays report for November alongside the delayed report for October. In November, Personal Income increased 0.3% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%) after a 0.1% increase in October (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%). Personal spending was up 0.5% in November (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%) after also increasing 0.5% in October (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%).

The PCE Price Index was up 0.2% month-over-month in October and November, as expected, while the core PCE Price Index was also up 0.2% for both months, which was also expected. On a year-over-year basis, the PCE Price Index decelerated to 2.7% in October but edged back up to 2.8% in November. The Core PCE Price Index also decelerated to 2.7% in October and edged back up to 2.8% in November.

The key takeaway from the report is that the core PCE Price Index, which is the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, was at 2.8% in November, essentially unchanged from September. As a result, this report should not alter the Fed's outlook since the inflation picture remains largely unchanged.