US close: Stocks finish weaker after deluge of data
Wall Street stocks finished weaker on Wednesday, as market participants digested a number of key data points.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.12% at 33,553.83, as the S&P 500 lost 0.83% to 3,958.79 and the Nasdaq Composite was off 1.54% at 11,183.66.
The Dow closed 39.09 points lower on Wednesday, biting into the gains it recorded on Tuesday as market participants digested another softer-than-expected inflation report.
“Stocks have pushed to the downside in lacklustre trading, as the positive momentum established by last week’s CPI figure disappears,” said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.
“This may well only be a temporary development, and the gains of the past week or so certainly suggest that the market is in a mood to push higher into the end of the year.
“While not exactly beating the drum on a pivot, Fed speakers have not been too zealous in talking about the need for higher rates, thus helping to avoid a resumption of the downtrend in equities for now.”
Wednesday's primary focus was October's retail sales data, which revealed sales grew more quickly than anticipated last month.
According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, retail sales volumes expanded at a month-on-month clip of 1.3% to reach $694.5bn.
Economists had pencilled in a rise of 0.9%.
Also on the macroeconomic front, mortgage applications rose 2.70% in the week ended 11 November, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, the first increase in eight weeks.
The purchase index was up 4.4%, while applications to refinance a home loan fell by 1.6%.
On another note, the cost of imported goods in the States fell a bit less than expected last month, according to the Department of Labor, with the US import price index slipping at a month-on-month pace of 0.2% in October in seasonally adjusted terms.
Consensus estimates were for a 0.5% drop.
Elsewhere, US industrial production undershot forecasts by a wide margin amid declines in mining and utilities output.
According to the Department of Commerce, total production ticked lower by one-tenth of a percentage point month-on-month in October.
Headlines from across the pond were also in focus, after UK inflation again surged in October, coming in well above expectations.
According to the Office for National Statistics, consumer price inflation rose 11.1% in October year-on-year, up from 10.1% in September and the highest rate since 1981.
Most analysts had been expecting CPI to print at around 10.7%.
In equities, ‘cheap-chic’ discount retailer Target tumbled 13.14% after it posted a more-than-50% drop in third-quarter profits ahead of the all-important holiday trading period, leading the company to lower expectations for the final 12 weeks of the year.
Cruise operator Carnival was 13.71% lower in US trading after it said it was planning to issue further debt, while Advance Auto Parts plunged 15.06% after an earnings miss, as cash-strapped customers turned to its less profitable own brand products rather than the bigger-margin brand name products.
On the upside, DIY chain Lowe's was ahead 3.01% after it beat expectations with its latest set of quarterly revenues.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com. Additional reporting by Iain Gilbert.
Dow Jones - Risers
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $272.63 1.74%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $511.26 1.69%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $314.91 0.96%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $181.13 0.91%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $141.84 0.89%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $148.48 0.72%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $173.46 0.62%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $37.88 0.48%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $99.96 0.33%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $133.16 0.14%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $155.12 -4.29%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $29.53 -3.84%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $50.54 -2.11%
3M Co. (MMM) $128.74 -1.89%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $93.95 -1.63%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $184.99 -1.63%
Boeing Co. (BA) $172.69 -1.52%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $105.23 -1.39%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $44.39 -1.14%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $232.42 -0.93%
S&P 500 - Risers
TJX Companies Inc. (TJX) $79.02 5.19%
Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) $50.71 3.89%
Lincoln National Corp. (LNC) $35.35 3.60%
Lowe's Companies Inc. (LOW) $215.13 3.01%
McKesson Corp. (MCK) $363.20 2.69%
Hershey Foods Corp. (HSY) $223.15 2.69%
Discover Financial Services (DFS) $106.11 2.40%
Progressive Corp. (PGR) $126.03 2.32%
J. M. Smucker Co. (SJM) $143.63 2.24%
Motorola Solutions Inc (MSI) $255.76 2.14%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Advance Auto Parts (AAP) $156.24 -15.06%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $9.63 -13.71%
Target Corp. (TGT) $155.47 -13.14%
Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $3.52 -10.20%
Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) $69.12 -8.57%
Macy's Inc. (M) $19.72 -8.07%
Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) $19.93 -8.03%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $36.42 -7.70%
Bath & Body Works, Inc. (BBWI) $31.33 -7.64%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $455.38 -7.21%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $37.69 1.75%
Gen Digital Inc. (GEN) $22.61 1.66%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $11.62 1.31%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $833.98 1.07%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $99.19 1.07%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $735.67 0.95%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $74.35 0.64%
PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $103.40 0.60%
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $2,013.78 0.59%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $65.00 0.54%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $2.14 -9.32%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $36.42 -7.70%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $455.38 -7.21%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $58.87 -6.70%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $104.22 -5.65%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $201.39 -5.42%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $94.75 -4.96%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $221.14 -4.80%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $972.82 -4.69%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $55.97 -4.67%