US open: Stocks near record, but momentum waning

Wall Street is continuing to edge higher, buoyed by gains in retailers and a strong reading on new home sales.

With traders back at their desks in full-force following the Thanksgiving break, the main market indices were again at or near record levels.

At 1604 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.16% or 370 points ahead to 23,519.37, alongside a 0.02% or 0.70 point dip on the S&P 500 to 2,601.54 while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.16% or 11.77 points lower at 6,876.50.

However, decliners outnumbered advancers on both major exchanges, the NYSE and Nasdaq, a possible indication of waning momentum.

Acting as a backdrop, investors were watching for any developments as regards the Republicans' tax plans as a Senate vote on proposed tax changes was expected as early as Tuesday this week.

Not far from traders' minds, the price of Bitcoin was up by 3.4% at $9,644.11, according to Coindesk.

From a sector standpoint, the best performing areas of the market were: Broadline retailers (1.78%), Home improvement retailers (1.26%) and Business training (0.78%).

"US stocks are back to normal today, with the recovery from Thanksgiving overindulgence complete. Tax reform looks a bit less of a done deal today, and it is strange to see the market so blissfully unconcerned. Perhaps it is the thought of a festive rally into year-end that is keeping them stable, or perhaps they’re hoping Mr Trump will pull a rabbit out of the hat.

"Either way, as we head into the final month of the year a sudden pullback due to tax reform worries offers the dip-buyers their best hope," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.

Market participants were also waiting on comments by New York Fed President William Dudley, who was to take part in a moderated discussion at an event sponsored by the University of California. In addition, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari was set to participate in a moderated discussion at Winona State University later on Monday.

Economic data on Monday was limited to monthly home sales figures and the Federal Reserve bank of Dallas's regional manufacturing gauge.

New homes sales jumped by 6.2% on the month in October to reach an annualised pace of 685,000 (consensus: 624,000), according to Commerce.

With a focus on the South, the Dallas Fed's factory sector index fell back by 10.0 points from its October level to a reading of 15.1 in November.

In the corporate space, and as was often the case on Mondays, traders were busy reacting to the latest newsflow on M&A deals.

As such, shares of Time Inc. were up by 9.17%, outpacing gains after Meredith Corp inked a deal to buy the magazine publisher for $2.8bn.

Unusually for a suitor company, which got the financial backing of the Koch brothers for the deal, stock in Meredith was ahead by almost as much.

Shares of Barracuda Networks were also sharply higher after the company agreed to an all-cash takeover from private equity outfit Thoma Bravo for $1.6bn, for a 22.5% premium.

Teva Pharma was also trading on the front foot after unveiling a big reorganisation and multiple changes in its top ranks.

Dow Jones - Risers

General Electric Co. (GE) $18.45 1.43%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $47.48 1.00%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $97.50 0.91%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $83.93 0.80%
3M Co. (MMM) $233.21 0.79%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $99.06 0.75%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $36.74 0.69%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $173.51 0.68%
Visa Inc. (V) $112.44 0.42%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $152.25 0.27%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $70.48 -0.96%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $115.69 -0.70%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $81.08 -0.42%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $44.60 -0.35%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $168.73 -0.22%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $54.28 -0.13%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $116.79 -0.10%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $137.32 -0.05%
Boeing Co. (BA) $265.76 -0.05%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $174.90 -0.04%

S&P 500 - Risers

Gap Inc. (GPS) $30.60 3.24%
L Brands Inc (LB) $49.92 3.23%
Mallinckrodt Plc Ordinary Shares (MNK) $21.90 3.20%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $35.12 2.78%
GameStop Corp. (GME) $17.87 2.60%
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $7.62 2.28%
Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $30.72 1.86%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $1,205.66 1.66%
AutoZone Inc. (AZO) $642.33 1.48%
Crown Castle International (CCI) $114.34 1.44%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $86.17 -7.12%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $47.69 -4.01%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $38.79 -3.72%
Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO) $15.37 -3.70%
Kimco Realty Corp. (KIM) $18.15 -3.46%
Transocean Ltd. (RIG) $9.75 -3.18%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $210.03 -3.14%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $14.72 -2.72%
Hess Corp. (HES) $43.28 -2.52%
Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR) $28.00 -2.35%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $261.10 2.49%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $277.40 2.22%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $1,209.74 2.00%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $216.94 0.97%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $36.83 0.95%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $36.16 0.90%
Dentsply International Inc. (XRAY) $68.10 0.87%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $1,065.36 0.84%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $1,048.31 0.74%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $83.87 0.73%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $86.77 -6.48%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $38.88 -3.50%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $48.24 -2.90%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $30.01 -2.25%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $321.73 -2.20%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $36.55 -2.19%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $29.05 -2.17%
Ctrip.Com International Ltd. Ads (CTRP) $46.65 -2.09%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $212.32 -2.08%
Liberty Interactive Corporation - Series A Liberty Ventures (LVNTA) $56.55 -1.92%