US open: Stocks mixed ahead of Powell testimony
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Wednesday 30 Nov 2022
(Sharecast News) - Wall Street trading got off to a mixed start on Wednesday as market participants digested a slew of data points ahead of comments from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell at the Brookings Institution.
As of 1515 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.42% at 33,708.91, while the S&P 500 lost 0.12% to 3,953.04 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.39% firmer at 11,026.99.
The Dow opened 143.62 points higher on Wednesday, easily reversing the previous session's single-digit gain.
Wednesday's primary focus will be on Powell's comments, with traders hoping they can gain some insight into the Fed's thought process regarding future interest rate hikes ahead of the central bank's meeting next week. The Fed is largely expected to deliver a smaller 0.5 percentage point rate increase, with a pause in hikes or a pivot likely to send markets higher.
On the macro front, US mortgage applications fell 0.8% in the week ended 25 November, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, following a 2.2% advance in the previous week. Applications to refinance a home loan dropped 12.9%, while the purchase index rose 3.8%.
Elsewhere, hiring in the US slowed by more than expected in November, according to consultancy ADP, with hiring in America's private sector declining from 239,000 in October to 127,000 in November. Economists had pencilled-in an increase of 195,000.
Still on data, America's economy expanded at a slightly quicker pace than expected over the three months ended 30 September. According to the Department of Commerce, US gross domestic product grew at a quarterly annualised clip of 2.9% over the third quarter. Consensus had been for growth of 2.7%.
On another note, manufacturing sector activity in the Chicago region registered an outsized slump in November, according to Market News International's Chicago factory sector purchasing managers' index, which cratered to a reading of 37.2 - down from an October print of 45.2 and well below economists' forecasts for a reading of 47.0.
Moving on, an advance reading of October's goods trade balance showed the US trade gap on goods widened sharply, down from a revised print of $91.9bn in September to $99.0bn in October, according to the Census Bureau.
Meanwhile, contracts to buy previously owned US homes fell for a fifth month in a row in October, according to the National Association of Realtors, which said its pending home sales index, based on signed contracts, fell to 4.6% to 77.1 last month.
Finally, the number of job openings in the US dropped by 353,000 to 10.3m in October, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with job openings decreasing in state and local government, excluding education, nondurable goods manufacturing, and federal government, while the number of job openings increased in other services and in finance and insurance.
In the corporate space, La-Z-Boy, Box, Victoria's Secret, and Salesforce will report earnings after the close
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
Dow Jones - Risers
Boeing Co. (BA) $177.99 1.52%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $534.59 1.25%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $243.27 1.22%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $142.14 0.69%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $146.09 0.42%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $181.76 0.41%
Visa Inc. (V) $209.49 0.21%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $106.42 0.16%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $48.35 0.13%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $49.64 -1.99%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $28.35 -1.90%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $134.08 -1.82%
3M Co. (MMM) $123.91 -1.76%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $378.17 -1.45%
American Express Co. (AXP) $152.23 -1.42%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $312.61 -1.06%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $233.21 -0.81%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $62.01 -0.76%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $40.83 -0.62%
S&P 500 - Risers
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $309.01 6.04%
State Street Corp. (STT) $77.84 5.29%
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) $15.73 1.75%
Danaher Corp. (DHR) $263.29 1.65%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $81.60 1.63%
Waters Corp. (WAT) $335.55 1.63%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $38.11 1.60%
Boeing Co. (BA) $177.99 1.52%
Estee Lauder Co. Inc. (EL) $218.21 1.52%
Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $179.51 1.46%
S&P 500 - Fallers
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $65.57 -8.66%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $52.68 -4.43%
Mohawk Inds Inc. (MHK) $96.92 -3.98%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $34.64 -3.86%
Synchrony Financial (SYF) $35.97 -3.51%
Truist Financial Corp. (TFC) $44.30 -3.51%
Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (BFH) $38.85 -3.42%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $49.71 -3.39%
Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL) $46.59 -3.32%
Keycorp (KEY) $17.98 -3.18%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $159.99 11.13%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $57.85 8.64%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $31.48 8.46%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $108.88 7.99%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $309.23 6.04%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $99.95 2.91%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $183.82 2.28%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $81.70 1.76%
Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $179.63 1.52%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $70.09 1.42%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $52.85 -4.43%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $34.86 -3.25%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $50.06 -2.70%
Gen Digital Inc. (GEN) $21.99 -2.52%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $375.87 -2.44%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $28.36 -1.85%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $205.99 -1.69%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $15.51 -1.47%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $20.16 -1.47%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $29.78 -1.42%
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