Stocks Closed Mixed, But Lots To Be Thankful For In The Market This Thanksgiving
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Stocks closed mixed yesterday with the Dow and the S&P in the green, while the Nasdaq was in the red. But they all bounced off their worst levels of the day to close at or near their intraday highs by the close.
Reports that the White House will tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) for 50 million barrels of crude oil, was met with a mixed reaction. While this should help ease prices to a degree, it's a short-term fix. And some took issue with drawing down our emergency reserves for the purpose of reducing prices, when in the past it has traditionally been used to ease supply shocks due to geopolitical concerns or supply challenges brought on by weather events like hurricanes that cause infrastructure damage.
Nonetheless, it is expected to have the intended effect at the pump. Although, the price of crude oil yesterday actually rose $1.80 or 2.35% on the news. So we shall see.
Rising oil prices, however, are just one component affecting the inflationary concerns. As such, the 10-year Treasury yield ticked up by 0.0420 or 2.58% to 1.6670.
But we are seeing some improvement in other areas. Reports that there's been a 33% reduction in port congestion, and a 25% reduction in shipping prices is welcomed news. Easing supply chain constraints will ultimately help ease pricing pressures.
Inflation concerns notwithstanding, the economy continues its recovery.
That was underscored with yesterday's Redbook report which showed same store retail sales up 15.3% y/y vs. last week's 15.2% snapshot.
We also got a strong reading from the PMI Composite Flash report which came in at 56.5. While that was just below the consensus for 57.0, it was a solid showing nonetheless. The Services Index hit 57.0 vs. expectations for 58.2, while the Manufacturing Index hit 59.1 vs. views for 58.0.
And the Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index came in as expected with a print of 11, matching the consensus.
Today we'll get another look at the economy with Weekly Jobless Claims, Durable Goods Orders, the second estimate for Q3 GDP, Retail and Wholesale Inventories, New Home Sales, and Consumer Sentiment. Should be a busy day.
As you know, the markets will be closed tomorrow (Thursday), for Thanksgiving.
Trading will resume on Friday, but the markets will close early at 1:00 PM ET.
But we have a full day today. So have a profitable day.
And have a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow.
See you on Friday,
Kevin Matras
Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research
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