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Cool-down day
17-Nov-20 16:15 ET
Dow -167.09 at 29783.29, Nasdaq -24.79 at 11899.26, S&P -17.38 at 3609.67

https://www.briefing.com/stock-market-update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 declined 0.5% on Tuesday in a cool-down session following its recent record-setting run. The Nasdaq Composite (-0.2%) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.6%) also closed modestly lower, while the Russell 2000 (+0.4%) closed at a fresh record high.

The market struggled out of the gate after October Retail Sales were softer than expected with total retail sales up 0.3% m/m (Briefing.com consensus +0.5%). A pullback in October discretionary spending may have contributed to the negative reactions to better-than-expected Q3 earnings reports from Walmart (WMT 149.37, -3.07, -2.0%) and Home Depot (HD 272.47, -7.10, -2.5%)

For the most part, losses were kept in check. The S&P 500 utilities sector strayed from the pack with a 2.0% decline, but no other sector fell more than 0.8%. The energy (+0.5%) and real estate (+0.1%) sectors eked out gains.

Coincidentally, today's low in the S&P 500 (-1.1%) came right before the NAHB Housing Market Index for November was released at 10:00 a.m. ET, which showed homebuilding sentiment hit a new all-time high. Similarly, sentiment among fund managers was indicated to be extremely bullish, according to a survey done by Bank of America.

The heightened level of bullishness among fund managers perhaps served as a contrarian signal for investors to remain cautious, especially given the market's recent gains. Prior to today, the S&P 500 was up 10.9% over the last 11 trading sessions.

Separately, shares of Tesla (TSLA 441.61, +33.53, +8.2%) rose 8% on news that it'll join the S&P 500 on Dec. 21. Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA 39.86, -4.25, -9.6%) and other drug store stocks sold off following the launch of Amazon's (AMZN 3135.66, +4.60, +0.2%) online pharmacy business.

U.S. Treasuries ended the session with small gains, pushing yields lower. The 2-yr yield decreased two basis points to 0.16%, and the 10-yr yield decreased three basis points to 0.87%. The U.S. Dollar Index decreased 0.2% to 92.44. WTI crude futures increased 0.2% to $41.43/bbl.

Reviewing Tuesday's big batch of data, which featured Retail Sales for October:

October Retail Sales were softer than expected with total retail sales up 0.3% m/m (Briefing.com consensus +0.5%) and sales, excluding autos, up 0.2% (Briefing.com consensus +0.6%). September retail sales growth was revised down to 1.6% from 1.9%. Excluding autos, it was revised to 1.2% from 1.5%.
The key takeaway from the report is that it showed a pullback in spending across several discretionary categories like clothing (-4.2% m/m), general merchandise stores (-1.1%), furniture and home furnishing stores (-0.4% m/m), and food services and drinking places (-0.1% m/m).
Industrial production increased 1.1% m/m in October (Briefing.com consensus +0.9%) on top of an upwardly revised 0.4% decline (from -0.6%) in September. The capacity utilization rate hit 72.8% (Briefing.com consensus 72.3%) following an upwardly revised 72.0% (from 71.5%) in September.
The key takeaway from the report is that industrial production has recovered most of the 16.5% decline seen from February to April, although output is still 5.6% below its pre-pandemic February level.
The NAHB Housing Market Index increased to a new all-time high of 90 in November (Briefing.com consensus 85) following the previous all-time high of 85 in October.
Business inventories increased 0.7% in September (Briefing.com consensus +0.5%) following an unrevised 0.3% increase in August.
Import prices decreased 0.1% in October; and prices excluding oil increased 0.1%. Export prices increased 0.2% in October; and prices excluding agriculture were unchanged.

Looking ahead, investors will receive Housing Starts and Building Permits for October and the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index on Wednesday.

Nasdaq Composite +32.6% YTD
S&P 500 +11.7% YTD
Russell 2000 +7.4% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +4.4% YTD

Market Snapshot
Dow 29783.29 -167.09 (-0.56%)
Nasdaq 11899.26 -24.79 (-0.21%)
SP 500 3609.67 -17.38 (-0.48%)
10-yr Note +25/32 0.871
NYSE Adv 1709 Dec 1298 Vol 954.6 mln
Nasdaq Adv 1790 Dec 1679 Vol 4.1 bln

Industry Watch
Strong: Real Estate, Energy
Weak: Utilities, Health Care, Information Technology

Moving the Market

-- Cool-down session following recent record run, although the small-cap Russell 2000 closed at a fresh record high

-- Softer than expected retail sales for October, but homebuilding sentiment hit all-time high in November

-- Amazon (AMZN) announced online pharmacy business; Tesla (TSLA) will be added to the S&P 500 on Dec. 21

WTI crude settles slightly higher while stocks edge lower
17-Nov-20 15:25 ET
Dow -205.72 at 29744.66, Nasdaq -33.83 at 11890.22, S&P -20.83 at 3606.22

[BRIEFING.COM] The market's rebound attempt is unraveling with the S&P 500 now trading lower by 0.5% after nearly returning to its flat line earlier. The retracement was not caused by any specific catalyst, suggesting the market remains in a cooling-off period.

One last look at the S&P 500 sectors shows utilities (-1.5%) as the weakest link, followed by health care (-0.9%) and information technology (-0.6%). The real estate sector (+0.2%) remains in positive territory.

WTI crude futures settled higher by 0.2%, or $0.09, to $41.43/bbl.
Russell 2000 keeping faith in the domestic economic outlook
17-Nov-20 14:55 ET
Dow -105.43 at 29844.95, Nasdaq +16.04 at 11940.09, S&P -6.04 at 3621.01

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 is currently trading lower by 0.2%, but the more interesting development is the resiliency of the Russell 2000, which is up 0.5% and on pace to close at a fresh record high.

The small-cap index is now up 16.6% in November, or in less than 12 trading session, as investors continue to bet that the domestic economy will rebound in 2021 due to a vaccine. This expectation implies that the small-caps, which are generally more U.S.-centric, stand to outperform since they have meaningfully underperformed for a while now.

Looking ahead, Lowe's (LOW 160.51, -1.38, -0.9%), Target (TGT 164.19, -0.33, -0.2%), and TJX (TJX 61.27, +0.19, +0.3%) will report earnings tomorrow morning.