Stocks opened in negative territory Tuesday and stayed there through the close. Volume is beginning to thin out as investors get a head start on their long weekend. Remember, the stock market will be closed Thursday for Thanksgiving and open for an abbreviated session on Black Friday.
When Tuesday's closing bell rang, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 0.2% at 35,088, the S&P 500 was 0.2% lower at 4,538, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.6% at 14,199.
In focus today was data from the National Association of Realtors that showed existing home sales fell 4.1% from September to October to a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.79 million. Year-over-year, existing home sales were down 14.6%. Meanwhile, the median sales price for existing homes was up 3.4% from the same period last year.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-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.
"Prospective home buyers experienced another difficult month due to the persistent lack of housing inventory and the highest mortgage rates in a generation," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, in the report.
In other economic news, the Federal Reserve released the minutes from its November meeting when it chose to keep interest rates unchanged. The minutes showed "most participants continued to see upside risks to inflation," while "all" Fed officials agreed it was best to "proceed carefully."
Since the Fed's most recent meeting, both the October Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) showed inflation is easing. As such, futures traders are pricing in a 99.8% chance for no rate hike at the next Fed meeting in December, according to CME Group.
Retail earnings a mixed bag ahead of Black Friday
Market participants also took in a mixed bag of retail earnings. Burlington Stores (BURL), for one, shot up 20.7% after the off-price retailer reported higher-than-expected third-quarter earnings of 98 cents per share. Revenue of $2.29 billion matched estimates.
Kohl's (KSS), on the other hand, slumped 8.6% after its third-quarter results. While the department store beat on both its top and bottom lines, same-store sales fell by a wider-than-expected 5.5% and the company lowered its full-year sales growth forecast.
AI stock can soar 40%, says analyst
In non-earnings news, Oppenheimer analyst Timothy Horan upgraded enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) software firm C3.ai (AI, +1.7%) to Outperform from Perform, the equivalents of Buy and Hold, respectively.
The company's "'AI' theme is real and durable, with C3.ai well-positioned as one of the few pure plays helping customers drive new revenue sources and major productivity improvements," the analyst says. AI is already up more than 150% for the year-to-date, but Horan has a $40 price target on the tech stock. This implies upside of more than 40% to current levels.
Investors will hear more about artificial intelligence when Nvidia (NVDA, -0.9%) releases its third-quarter results after tonight's close. Analysts are expecting solid top- and bottom-line growth for one of Wall Street's best AI stocks.
Related content
- When Is the Next CPI Report?
- Kiplinger's Earnings Calendar for This Week
- Are Banks Open on Black Friday in 2023?
-
The Retirement Bucket Rule: Your Guide to Fear-Free SpendingForget market declines or rising inflation. With this strategy, you won’t have to worry about any of that during retirement.
-
How Big Will the Fed Rate Cut Be This Fall?A dismal July jobs report has lifted expectations for fall rate cuts. But just how low could the fed funds rate be by year's end?
-
Dow Dives 542 Points on Soft Jobs Data: Stock Market TodayThe last day of a busy week ends with the first greater-than-1% move in either direction in more than a month.
-
Stocks Can't Hold Meta, Microsoft Gains: Stock Market TodayThe main indexes all opened higher Thursday on impressive Big Tech earnings, but momentum faded into the close.
-
How to Invest for a Fall Interest Rate Cut by the FedA lot can happen between now and then, but the probability the Fed cuts interest rates in September is back above 80%.
-
Stocks Are Up and Down on Fed Day: Stock Market TodayIn another sign of changing times, JPMorgan has partnered with Coinbase to enable cryptocurrency purchases with credit cards.
-
UnitedHealth Stock Drags on Dow: Stock Market TodayCorporate earnings have dominated Wall Street's attention this week, but that changes on Wednesday.
-
Stocks Close Mixed to Start Fed Week: Stock Market TodayNews of an EU-U.S. trade deal was met with muted reaction from market participants who are looking ahead to a jam-packed week.
-
Stocks Rise After Trump-Powell Fed Tour: Stock Market TodayNvidia hit a new all-time high intraday, but another renowned semiconductor name and some less iconic stocks were bigger movers Friday.
-
Are Buffett and Berkshire About to Bail on Kraft Heinz Stock?Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway own a lot of Kraft Heinz stock, so what happens when they decide to sell KHC?
