Thursday's Market Recap - A Fifth Day Of Consecutive Gains For The Bulls Despite Surprisingly We
What is The Premarket Telling Us?
8:00 AM.
After four consecutive day of gains, US stock futures are signalling a pause today. Stock futures are modestly lower. Dow futures down 83 points, Nasdaq futures down 42 points, and S&P futures down 13 points. Major Department Stores reported holiday sales numbers this morning, and they are not pretty. Macy's was, by far the weakest, followed by Target and Kohl's, all were surprisingly down, contrary to expectations, including positive comments from their CEOs earlier in the quarter.
On The Bond Desk:
The US 10 Year Bond Yield sits at 2.73%, up 0.01%.
Currency Desk:
Euro dollar: 1.15 (Euro strengthening)
UK Pound: 1.27
Crude Oil:
WTI crude oil futures at $52.01/barrel, down 0.67%.
On the Earnings Calendar:
Macy's, Kohl's, and Target preanounced weaker than expected holiday sales. Macy's was most disappointing. Shares down 18%.
In M&A News:
None.
What About The Asian And European Markets?
Major Asian markets traded mostly lower overnight. Japan (Nikkei 225) down 1.29%, Shanghai down 0.36%, Hong Kong (Hang Seng) up 0.22%
Major European markets were also mixed. German (DAX) added 0.26%, France CAC 40 lost 0.16%, London FTSE 100 gained 0.52%
Market And Sector Dynamics
Markets opened convincingly lower with the Dow 125 points, Nasdaq down 52 points, and the S&P fell 15 points. Investors are responding negatively to weaker than expected retail sales from major retail stores, like Macy's, Target, and Kohl's. Crude oil is down 1%, early in the session, sitting at $51.84.
The government shutdown continues in Washington, and will intensify, as Federal workers miss their paychecks, starting on Friday.
Shortly after the open markets bounced off the morning lows, climbed back into positive territory, around 1:00 PM. Except for a brief trip back to negative territory just before the 2:00 PM hour, stocks remained positive for the rest of the session.
Ten of the eleven S&P sectors closed the session modest to moderate gains, led by Real Estate, Industrials, Utilities, Basic Materials, Consumer Staples, Technology, and Energy.
Factors Influencing Today's Market
Surprisingly weak holiday retail sales numbers reported by Macy's, Target, and Kohl's was a negative for stocks today.
Residual positive sentiment from the now completed US China trade talks in Bejing.
WTI crude oil closed today's session at $52.59/barrel, up 0.44%.
Asian markets were mostly lower today, while Europe was mostly higher.
This week's Initial Jobless Claims fell 17,000 to 216,000 total, approaching almost the lower end of the range.
Market Close Volume Traded And Advance Decline Ratio
At the end of trading, the indices were higher. The Dow gained 122.80 points, Nasdaq rose 28.99 points, and the S&P gained 11.68 points. Total NYSE volume traded, a light 3.66 billion shares. Advancing shares outpaced Declining shares by 1.6:1.
NaData Sources: Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN Money, Google Finance, Market Watch, TD Ameritrade, Yahoo Finance.
Comments