US open: Stocks nudge higher as oil retreats ahead of OPEC meeting

US stocks inched up on Tuesday as data showed that the economy expanded more than expected in the third quarter, but oil prices retreated as uncertainty grew over an OPEC-led production cut.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average nudged higher by 0.02% to 19,100.96 points, the S&P 500 crept up 0.5% to 2,202.84 points, and the Nasdaq rose 19% to 5,379.06 points at 1521 GMT.

In commodity markets, gold on the Comex declined by 0.5% to $1,187.80 per troy ounce at 1505 GMT.

Oil prices slid as non-OPEC Russia confirmed it will not attend the cartel’s meeting in Vienna on Wednesday, although it said a meeting of the group and non-affiliated producers could take place at a later stage.

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s energy minister said he was “not optimistic” that OPEC would agree to cap production.

Brent crude was weaker by 3.83% to $46.46 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate edged lower by 3.9% to $45.31 at 1505 GMT.

In currency markets, the dollar was up 0.65% against the yen to 112.67, but fell 0.02% against the euro to 0.9422 and slipped 0.68% against sterling to 0.7999.

On the data front, the Commerce Department revealed that the American economy grew at the fastest rate in two years due to strong consumer spending.

Gross domestic product gained at annualised rate of 3.2% in the third quarter, more than the 3% forecast and the 2.9% initially reported.

Spreadex’s Connor Campbell said neither the Dow Jones Industrial Average nor the dollar paid much attention to the third quarter GDP news, probably due to both having likely priced in December’s anticipated interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve.

While the Conference Board’s consumer confidence survey in November increased to 107.1 from 100.8 in October, which was ahead of the 101.5 forecast.

In company news, shares in Tiffany & Co. ticked higher by 6.4% as the jeweller reported a surprise jump in sales for first time in two years, as Japan and China offset the sales decline in the US.

Third quarter net sales edged up 1.2% to $949.3m, compared to last year, against analysts’ expectations of a fall to £923.7m.

Whereas shares in Shoe Carnival plunged 10.67% after its quarterly results released late on Monday missed expectations and the retailer cut its annual guidance.

Its earnings forecast was cut to $1.46-$1.51 a share on revenue between $1.002bn-$1.006bn, from a previous forecast of $1.58-$1.65 on revenue between $1.012bn-$1.016bn.

Quarterly profit rose 3% to $9.7m, or 54 cents a share, and revenue rose 1.8% to $274.5m. Analysts expected earnings of 56 cents a share and revenue of $278.3m.

Looking ahead, the Fed’s Jerome Powell is to speak at 1740 GMT.