Last updated: 4:06PM EST
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Stock indices finished today’s trading session in the red, as the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), S&P 500 (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell 0.58%, 0.2%, and 0.18%, respectively.
The utilities sector (XLU) was the session’s top loser, as it lost 0.45%. Conversely, the technology sector (XLK) was the session’s leader, with a gain of 1.4%.
Furthermore, the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield saw a slight decrease to 4.40%. Similarly, the Two-Year Treasury yield was also little changed, as it hovers around 4.88%.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes released on Tuesday indicate that the Central Bank may not be considering cutting interest rates anytime soon. Indeed, Fed officials remain concerned about prevailing inflation, which is still above their target of 2%. Furthermore, Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s post-meeting statement that “the Committee is not thinking about rate cuts right now at all” also confirms it.
The minutes show that Federal Open Market Committee members believe inflation may linger longer than expected or even move higher. If anything, the members want policies to stay “restrictive” until economic conditions show inflation is dropping down to the central bank’s 2% goal.
Elsewhere, Existing Home Sales slumped 4.1% month-over-month in October as it came in at 3.79M, lower than consensus expectations of 3.90 million. On a year-over-year basis, the sales fell by 14.6%, although this was better than the 15.4% year-over-year recorded in September.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said high mortgage rates and lack of housing inventory continue to discourage prospective home buyers.
While existing home sales continue to lag, sales prices have increased 3.4% year-over-year to $391.8K. According to Yun, average homeowners have accumulated more than $100,000 in housing wealth over the past three years.
Last updated: 9:30AM EST
Stocks opened lower on Tuesday morning, with the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), S&P 500 (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) down by 0.54%, 0.24%, and 0.12%, respectively, at 9:30 a.m. EST, November 21.
First published: 3:29AM EST
U.S. Futures are jittery on Tuesday morning as investors await the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) meeting from Oct 31- Nov 1. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), S&P 500 (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are down by 0.03%, 0.08%, and 0.09%, respectively, at 3:25 a.m. EST, November 21.
Markets are eager to hear the Fed’s views on the overall health of the economy while also gauging how the interest rate scenario could change in the next few meetings. Notably, the U.S. 10-year treasury yield is going down steadily, floating near 4.39% at the time of writing. And the WTI crude oil futures are hovering near $77.32 per barrel as of the last check.
Further, traders anticipate the most-awaited results from chip-maker Nvidia (NVDA) today, along with results from Lowe’s (LOW), Best Buy (BBY), and HP (HPQ). Meanwhile, Microsoft (MSFT) stock hit a fresh 52-week high yesterday on the news of ousted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman joining the tech giant. OpenAI’s decision to take on Emmett Shear as interim CEO and ignore the investor and employee outburst could prove costly for the ChatGPT maker. Employees are mulling over suing the board and demanding the board members to resign, failing which could result in a mass employee exodus.
Turning to the crypto world, cryptocurrency exchange Binance could end up paying over $4 billion to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to end all criminal charges against it. Binance’s crypto token, BNB-USD, gained 5.7% on the news yesterday. Also, the U.S. SEC sued crypto platform Kraken for unlawfully engaging in the trading of crypto assets.
Elsewhere, European markets are trading mixed on Tuesday morning as investor enthusiasm fades. Markets worldwide are awaiting the Fed’s FOMC minutes today.
Asia-Pacific Markets Mostly End Lower on Tuesday
A majority of Asia-Pacific indices ended lower on Tuesday. Reports suggest that the Chinese government is preparing a list of 50 property developers who could become eligible for further government assistance.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and China’s Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component indexes ended lower by 0.25%, 0.01%, and 0.26%, respectively.
Similarly, Japan’s Nikkei and Topix indices finished lower by 0.10% and 0.20%, respectively.
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