Another encouraging reading on inflation failed to light a fire under stocks Thursday, with the two of the three main indexes continuing the choppy price action we've seen all week. Still, stocks closed the month of November with impressive gains, and if history is any guide, there's more upside to come over the next several weeks.
All three major benchmarks were higher to start the day after data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis said the Personal Consumption and Expenditures (PCE) index, the Fed's favorite inflation indicator that tracks consumer spending, was unchanged on a month-over-month basis and up 3.0% annually – both figures below what was seen in September.
The monthly increase (+0.2%) and year-over-year rise (+3.5%) in core PCE, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, were also lower than the previous month.
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Be a smarter, better informed investor.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
"This morning's PCE print underscores that inflationary pressures continue to moderate to the downside, but the question remains if it will be enough for the Fed to declare a final victory," says Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial.
Salesforce gains $20.8 billion in market value after earnings
At the close, the Nasdaq Composite (-0.2% at 14,226) had erased its earlier gains. The S&P 500 (+0.4% at 4,567) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+1.5% to 35,950) hung on for a win, though, thanks to strong gains for Salesforce (CRM).
Shares of CRM jumped 9.4%, adding $20.8 billion in market value along the way, after the software-as-a-service (SaaS) firm reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings of $2.11 per share on in-line revenue of $8.7 billion.
BofA Securities analyst Brad Sills says that this quarter's results show Salesforce's productivity efforts are reaching a turning point. "The efforts had a noticeable impact on margin, and started to benefit from deal sizes as account reps sell more of the stack as opposed to single products," notes Sills, who has a Buy rating on CRM and calls it a top stock pick.
Snowflake delivers a beat-and-raise quarter
Snowflake (SNOW) was another post-earnings winner today, rising 7.1% after the cloud-based data platform delivered beat-and-raise third-quarter results. "The company benefited from high net retention rate, new customer adds, and large-customer traction in the third quarter of fiscal 2024," says Oppenheimer analyst Ittai Kidron (Outperform, the equivalent of Buy). "Innovations around artificial intelligence with its Snowpark framework and availability of additional service, can provide additional uplift to growth in fiscal 2025 and beyond."
The tech stock happens to be a member of the Berkshire Hathaway equity portfolio, with Warren Buffett & Co. first taking a stake in Q3 2020 – shortly after its initial public offering. Since then, SNOW shares are down more than 26%.
Despite today's mixed finish, the Nasdaq (+10.3%), S&P 500 (+8.6%) and Dow (+8.5%) all carved out impressive monthly gains.
If history is any guide, stocks could continue this momentum into year's end. According to Yardeni Research, the S&P 500 has finished December higher 69 times since 1928 – the most of any month. The index has averaged a 1.3% gain in December over that time frame, coming in third behind April (+1.4%) and July (1.7%) as the strongest month for stocks.
Related content
- When Is the Next CPI Report?
- Instacart+ Users Can Now Get Peacock Streaming For Free
- How Charlie Munger Helped Create Berkshire Hathaway, and Warren Buffett
-
Four Essential Michael Jordan Quotes on Life in RetirementThe GOAT of basketball on how he spends his time and what he misses.
-
Three Critical Tax Changes Could Boost Your Paycheck in 2026Tax Tips The IRS predicts these tax breaks may change take-home pay in 2026. Will you get over $1,000 in tax savings?
-
Dow Beats 334-Point Retreat on Tech Bite: Stock Market TodayInvestors, traders and speculators wonder whether this remains a Magnificent 7 market and how long this AI-driven bull run will last.
-
What the Rich Know About Investing That You Don'tPeople like Warren Buffet become people like Warren Buffet by following basic rules and being disciplined. Here's how to accumulate real wealth.
-
3M, GM, Blue Chips Lead to the Upside: Stock Market TodayThe S&P 500 followed the Dow Jones Industrial Average into green territory, but the Nasdaq lagged the other indexes because of its tech exposure.
-
Dow Adds 516 Points on Broad Optimism: Stock Market TodayEasing trade war tensions and promise from early earnings reports has investors looking on the bright side to start the week.
-
Stocks Rise to End a Volatile Week: Stock Market TodayThe market's fear index reached and retreated from a six-month intraday peak on Friday as stocks closed the week well.
-
Dow Sinks 301 Points on Trade War Talk: Stock Market TodayThe contentious relationship between the world's two biggest economies continues to drive global financial markets.
-
Trade Uncertainty Sparks Whipsaw Session: Stock Market TodayVolatility is making a cameo here in mid-October, a generally positive month marked by its historic stock market events.
-
Stocks Swing in Volatile Session: Stock Market TodayThe main indexes fell sharply in early trading on rising China tensions, but rebounded thanks to encouraging bank earnings.
