Last Updated 2:15 PM EST
Stocks are in the green heading into the closing hours of today’s session. As of 2:15 p.m. EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 are up 0.3%, 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively.
Federal Reserve meeting minutes were released today, showing that the central bank is not done raising interest rates. Unfortunately, there just isn’t enough evidence to suggest that inflation is falling in a convincing enough way. The latest inflation report came out at 7.7%, well above the 2% target.
Nonetheless, officials have begun discussing the use of lower interest rate hikes going forward. Indeed, the markets are expecting a rate hike of 50 basis points for December.
The indices are mixed; Durable goods orders exceed expectations
Last Updated 12:00 PM EST
Shares are mixed midway through Wednesday’s trading session. As of 12:00 p.m. EST, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 are up 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively. In contrast, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 0.1%
On Wednesday, the Census Bureau released its US Durable Goods Orders report for October, which measures the change in the value of orders for big-ticket, long-lived items. This report excludes the impact of aircraft orders as they tend to be very volatile. Therefore, it is generally accepted that the base reading provides a better indicator of order trends.
For October, core durable goods orders rose 0.5%, which was better than the 0.1% expected month-over-month. This is much better than last month’s -0.9% decline and demonstrates that there is still demand for big ticket items. Including aircraft orders, durable goods orders rose 1%, beating expectations by 0.4%.
Still, it’s important to remember that this is a lagging indicator, which means that current demand has the potential to be much weaker as inflation continues to impact power. buying people.
Stocks rise; Jobless claims fall short of expectations
Last updated at 10:00 a.m. EST
Stock indices are in the green to start today’s trading session. As of 10:00 a.m. EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 are up 0.3%, 0.4% and 0.7%, respectively.
On Wednesday, the Department of Labor released its initial jobless claims report, which was worse than expected. Last week, 240,000 people filed for unemployment insurance for the first time. Expectations were 225,000 people.
When using the four-week average, initial jobless claims were 226,750, down from 221,250 last week. It should be noted that this figure has been in an overall upward trend since the end of September.
In addition, continuing unemployment claims, which measure the number of unemployed people eligible for unemployment insurance, stood at 1.551 million. This was above the forecast of 1.517 million and higher than last week’s print of 1.503 million.
Continuing jobless claims are currently near their lowest levels since 1970. Relatively speaking, this suggests that individuals have no trouble finding other jobs after being laid off.
However, that number has been slowly increasing recently as the Federal Reserve’s tightening policy begins to take effect. So it will likely continue to rise as more companies announce layoffs.
Stock Market Today: Futures Rise Ahead of Fed Meeting Minutes
First published at 7:18 a.m. EST
U.S. stock futures were trending higher early Wednesday as investors eagerly awaited the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s final meeting earlier this month. The update will provide more clarity on the December policy approach.
Futures contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 0.05%, while those of the S&P 500 (SPX) gained 0.08%, as of 7:00 a.m. EST, Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) futures were up 0.08%.
Nordström (NYSE: JWN) was a major premarket driver, down nearly 10% when last checked in the premarket session on Wednesday, even as the company beat estimates for third-party revenue and profit. quarter and reaffirmed its guidance. Investors were most likely looking for an increase in forecasts and were disappointed that expectations were maintained, suggesting this is as good as it gets for Nordstrom.
what happened tuesday
After the initial jitters, investors shrugged off worries about another round of COVID-19-related lockdowns in China after another resurgence in cases. The S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq 100 closed the day with gains of 1.36%, 1.18% and 1.48%, respectively.
Volumes remained weak yesterday ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, and this is expected to continue on Wednesday.
Investors focused more on earnings reports and hopes for accommodative monetary policy from the Fed.
Rising Oil Shipping Costs
Meanwhile, the costs of shipping oil to various ports around the world have skyrocketed, pushing up energy prices and threatening to fuel inflation.
The incessant war in Ukraine has disrupted several short oil trade routes through the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. Moreover, with the decrease in Russian oil exports to Europe and the latter looking for other suppliers, the time taken by tankers to reach their destinations has increased. This is the root of the price spike.
What to expect on Wednesday
On the economic front, the latest Fed meeting minutes will be reviewed on Wednesday to understand the central bank’s stance on inflation and its policy approach for the December meeting.
The first weekly jobless claims will also be released, revealing more details on how the labor market is doing. With the high number of tech layoffs, an increase in claims is expected. The Dow Jones survey predicts 225,000 for the week ending Nov. 19, up from 222,000 the previous week.
The markets will be closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving and will be open until 1 p.m. on Friday.
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