Closing Stock Market SummaryThere was a positive bias in today's trade coming off a weak start to December for the stock market. The S&P 500 closed in the red eight out of the last nine sessions and has logged five straight losses to begin December. According to Bloomberg, that is the worst start to a month for the S&P 500 since 2011.
Things got started on an upbeat note today before the S&P 500 faded back to test yesterday's closing level (3,933.92). Buyers stepped in, however, and defended that line, which aided investor sentiment.
The market hit an air pocket in the afternoon trade, though, following the news that the FTC is seeking to block Microsoft's (MSFT 247.40, +3.03, +1.2%) acquisition of Activision Blizzard (ATVI 74.76, -1.17, -1.5%). Again, buyers showed up to help stabilize the market and the main indices ultimately closed around the levels seen before the Microsoft news emerged.
Broad buying interest left most of the S&P 500 sectors in positive territory by the close. Communication services (-0.5%) lagged due to a weak showing from Alphabet (GOOG 93.95, -1.20, -1.3%) and the energy sector (-0.5%) felt the pinch of falling oil prices ($71.40/bbl, -0.89, -1.2%).
On the flip side, the information technology (+1.6%) and consumer discretionary (+1.1%) sectors sat atop the leaderboard. The latter was boosted in part by casino stocks trading up on the news that Macau is easing COVID-19 testing requirements, according to Reuters. Las Vegas Sands (LVS 48.31, +1.18, +2.5%) and Wynn Resorts (WYNN 86.43, +1.47, +1.7%) were winning standouts for the group.
Tesla (TSLA 173.44, -0.60, -0.3%) was an individual story stock of note today. It lost ground again on news that Elon Musk's bankers could provide him with new margin loans supported by Tesla stock to replace high interest Twitter debt, according to Bloomberg. The company is also aiming to shorten shifts in Shanghai and delay hiring, according to CNBC.
Treasury yields moved higher today. The 2-yr note yield rose eight basis points to 4.32% and the 10-yr note yield rose eight basis points to 3.49%.
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: -7.0% YTD
- S&P Midcap 400: -12.2% YTD
- Russell 2000: -19.0% YTD
- S&P 500: -16.8% YTD
- Nasdaq Composite: -29.2% YTD
Reviewing today's economic data:
- Initial claims for the week ending December 3 increased by 4,000 to 230,000 (consensus 220,000) and continuing claims for the week ending November 26 increased by 62,000 to 1.671 million.
- The key takeaway from the report is that continuing jobless claims hit their highest level since February 2022, suggesting perhaps that it is becoming more difficult to find a job as employers are taking a more cautious-minded approach with their hiring plans.
- Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventories showed a draw of 21 bcf versus a draw of 81 bcf last week
Looking ahead to Friday, market participants will be focused on the November Producer Price Index ( consensus 0.2%; prior 0.2%) and core-Produce Price Index ( consensus 0.2%; prior 0.0%) at 8:30 a.m. ET. Other data out tomorrow includes:
- 10:00 a.m. ET: Preliminary December University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment ( consensus 57.0; prior 56.8)
- 10:00 a.m. ET: October Wholesale Inventories (prior 0.6%)