Stock Market Today: Stocks Close Lower After Fed Minutes, Retail Earnings
Burlington was a big winner on the earnings front, while Kohl's slumped after its results.


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?
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.

With over a decade of experience writing about the stock market, Karee Venema is the senior investing editor at Kiplinger.com. She joined the publication in April 2021 after 10 years of working as an investing writer and columnist at a local investment research firm. In her previous role, Karee focused primarily on options trading, as well as technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis.
-
This 401(k) Withdrawal Snafu Could Knock Your Portfolio off Course
Few financial advisers have heard of this 401(k) withdrawal issue. Here's how to safeguard your portfolio.
-
A Financial Checklist for Your College-Bound Kids
Is your child heading off to college this fall? If so, make sure they're prepared and protected in these four key areas.
-
AI vs the Stock Market: How Did Alphabet, Nike and Industrial Stocks Perform in June?
AI is a new tool to help investors analyze data, but can it beat the stock market? Here's how a chatbot's stock picks fared in June.
-
Stock Market Today: A Historic Quarter Closes on High Notes
"All's well that ends well" is one way to describe the second quarter of 2025, at least from a pure price-action perspective.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Swing as Trump Scraps Canada Trade Talks
Despite a mid-afternoon slip, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended the day at new record highs.
-
Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Nasdaq Near New Highs
The S&P 500 hasn't hit a new high since February. It's been since December for the Nasdaq.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Struggle to Sustain Gains
Mixed messages from multiple sources continue to make for a messy market for investors, traders and speculators.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Soar on Israel-Iran Ceasefire
It was a rocky start to the truce, but a temporary halt to fighting between Israel and Iran appears to be holding for now.
-
The Riskiest S&P 500 Stocks Right Now
Buyer beware: These are five of the riskiest stocks in the S&P 500 at the moment, based on one measure of volatility.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Rise on a Little More Uncertainty
The best response to a major geopolitical event is often no response at all, especially if you're looking at the big picture.