Stock Market News Today, 10/17/23 – Stocks Finish Mixed as Investors Weigh Economic Data

Last Updated 4:09 PM EST

Stock indices finished today’s trading session mixed. Indeed, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 0.04%, while the S&P 500 (SPX) and the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) fell 0.01% and 0.33%, respectively.

Furthermore, the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield increased to 4.84%, a jump of four 14 points. Similarly, the Two-Year Treasury yield also increased, as it hovers around 5.22%.

The Atlanta Federal Reserve updated its latest GDPNow reading, which allows it to estimate GDP growth in real time. The “nowcast” becomes more accurate as more economic data is released throughout the quarter. Currently, it estimates that the economy will expand by about 5.4% in the third quarter.

This is higher than its previous estimate of 5.1%, which can be attributed to recent releases from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

Last updated: 11:53AM EST

Stocks are mixed so far in today’s trading session. On Tuesday, the National Association of Home Builders released its U.S. NAHB Housing Market Index for March. The report measures home builder sentiment by surveying around 900 companies. A reading above 50 indicates that more home builders have a positive view of market conditions than a negative one.

The bad news is that today’s number came in at 40, meaning that most have a negative view of the market. This print is lower than the 44 that was expected and four points lower than last month’s reading. Indeed, sentiment has now decreased for three consecutive months.

According to NAHB Chairman Alicia Huey, the main driver behind this drop in sentiment can be attributed to “lower levels of buyer traffic, as some buyers, particularly younger ones, are priced out of the market because of higher interest rates.”

Last updated: 9:30AM EST

Stocks opened lower on Tuesday morning as the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), S&P 500 (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are down by 1.1%, 0.7%, and 0.28%, respectively, at 9:30 a.m. EST, October 17.

The retail sales data continued to remain hot for the month of September, increasing by 0.7% and above economists’ forecast of 0.3%. Excluding the sale of automobiles, retail sales ticked higher by 0.6% in September, above the forecast of 0.2%.

Following the report, treasury yields started climbing higher, with the 10-year treasury yield at 4.8% as investors fear another rate hike by the Fed.

Meanwhile, industrial production went up by 0.3% in September, above forecasts of a gain of 0.1%. Manufacturing increased by 0.4% in September, while production of vehicles climbed by 0.3%, even with the ongoing strike by Union Auto Workers (UAW).

The economy’s capacity utilization rate increased to 79.7% from 79.5% in August.

First published: 4:15AM EST

U.S. Futures are trending near the flatline on Tuesday morning as traders await important corporate earnings releases today. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), S&P 500 (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are down by 0.01%, 0.02%, and 0.01%, respectively, at 4:10 a.m. EST, October 17.

Notably, the three major indices finished yesterday’s trading session on a positive footing. Reassuring comments from Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker that he does not expect any more interest rate hikes this year pushed stocks higher on October 16.

In the meantime, the U.S. 10-year treasury yield also rose, floating near 4.74% at the time of writing. And the WTI crude oil futures are hovering near $86.97 per barrel as of the last check.

Approximately 11% of companies from the SPX and five from the DJIA are set to report their earnings this week. Earnings scheduled today include Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS), Lockheed Martin (LMT), and United Airlines (UAL), among others.

Meanwhile, September’s Retail Sales and Industrial Production data are due to be released today. Traders worldwide remain daunted as the Israel-Hamas war continues in full swing, threatening to pump up oil prices.  

Turning to stocks, a Department of Justice’s (DOJ) economic expert has alleged that Alphabet’s (GOOGL, GOOG) Google blocks its competitors from approximately 50% of U.S. search queries through exclusive deals with mobile device manufacturers and PC browser developers. The evaluation is related to Google’s ongoing antitrust case for search dominance. Microsoft stock (MSFT) dipped as much as 4.7% in after-hours trading yesterday after a Business Insider story disclosed the company’s employee salary packages and incentives obtained from leaked documents.

Also, on October 16, Bill Ford, the executive chairman of Ford Motor Co. (F), made his first remarks about the ongoing strike by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union. Ford is urging the union to stop striking to protect the overall American auto industry. Further, Lululemon Athletica (LULU) stock hit a new 52-week high yesterday, following the news of its joining the SPX index while replacing recently acquired Activision Blizzard.

Elsewhere, European indices are trading higher on Tuesday morning in anticipation of important earnings releases by European companies.

Asia-Pacific Markets End Higher on Tuesday

Asia-Pacific indices ended in the green today following optimism in their U.S. counterparts. Chinese tech behemoth Baidu (BIDU) says that its latest version, Ernie 4.0, is a direct competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4 model. Baidu CEO Robin Li launched the generative AI bot, Ernie 4.0 at the Baidu World 2023 conference held in Beijing today. However, Baidu stock slipped in the Hong Kong market as analysts remained unimpressed by the details.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and China’s Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component indices finished higher by 0.77%, 0.32%, and 0.15%, respectively.

Similarly, Japan’s Nikkei and Topix indices ended up by 1.20% and 0.82%, respectively.

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