On Tuesday, U.S. stocks experienced a slight decline, while benchmark Treasury yields saw a modest decrease due to a lack of significant market-moving factors to sustain the recent multi-session rally.

All three major U.S. stock indexes registered declines, with the technology-heavy Nasdaq showing the most substantial drop, as investors eagerly awaited the earnings results of chipmaker Nvidia Corp, set to be released after the market’s closing.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq seemed poised to end their five-day winning streaks.

Sam Stovall, Chief Investment Strategist at CFRA Research in New York, commented, “We’ve had so many good days I wouldn’t be surprised if people were looking to lighten up ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.”

Later in the session, the Federal Reserve was expected to release the minutes of its most recent meeting, during which the central bank decided to maintain its key Fed funds target rate at 5.25%-5.50%.

Stovall remarked, “On days before holidays, there’s often not much happening. And today, the only topic of discussion is the Fed minutes.”

He added, “The majority believes the Fed is finished raising rates. The question is how long they will keep rates elevated?”

Investors were closely examining the minutes for any indications regarding the potential need for further interest rate hikes and the timing of potential rate cuts.

On the economic front, existing home sales saw a significant decline to their lowest level in over 13 years, primarily due to rising mortgage rates and low housing inventories, which discouraged potential homebuyers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 82.46 points, or 0.23%, to 35,068.58, the S&P 500 lost 12.38 points, or 0.27%, to 4,535, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 102.03 points, or 0.71%, to 14,182.51.

In Europe, stock markets were relatively quiet, with weakness in telecom and energy stocks offsetting gains in the materials sector, as investors awaited the imminent release of the Fed minutes.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index slipped by 0.09%, and MSCI’s global stock gauge shed 0.16%.

Emerging market stocks, on the other hand, experienced a modest rise of 0.31%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.49% higher, while Japan’s Nikkei index declined by 0.10%.

Treasury yields edged lower in anticipation of the Fed minutes, reflecting growing concerns about an economic slowdown and the possibility of a recession.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury notes ticked down by 7/32, resulting in a yield of 4.3945%, compared to 4.422% at the close of the previous day.

The 30-year bond also saw a slight rise of 9/32, yielding 4.5577%, down from 4.575% on the prior day.

The U.S. dollar remained relatively stable against a basket of world currencies, as expectations grew that the central bank would begin cutting interest rates in early 2024.

The dollar index saw a minor uptick of 0.02%, with the euro showing a decrease of 0.11% to $1.0926.

The Japanese yen strengthened by 0.39% against the dollar, trading at 147.83 per dollar, while the British pound was last seen at $1.2538, up 0.27% for the day.

Crude oil prices dipped as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of the scheduled OPEC+ meeting on Sunday, where the producer group might discuss deeper supply cuts in response to a global economic slowdown.

U.S. crude oil fell by 0.67% to $77.31 per barrel, while Brent crude was down by 0.35% on the day, trading at $82.03.

Gold prices surged to a two-week high on the belief that the Fed had completed its tightening cycle.

Spot gold witnessed a substantial gain of 1.2%, reaching $2,001.65 per ounce.

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