Market Wrap For November 29: Early Closing Bell And End To November

Volume was light across the board despite Friday's early close also marking the last trading day of November.

In typical fashion, markets close at 1:00PM on the day following Thanksgiving. As was to be expected, news was rather light and the major indices ended the day almost flat.

  • The Dow lost 0.07 percent, closing at 16,086.22
  • The S&P 500 lost 0.08 percent, closing at 1,805.80.
  • The Nasdaq inched higher by 0.37 percent, closing at 4,059.89.
  • Gold gained 1.03 percent, trading at $1,250.70 an ounce.
  • Oil gained 1.25 percent, trading at $93.79 a barrel.
  • Silver gained 1.74 percent, trading at $20.02 an ounce.

News of Note

Despite a relatively slow day in the U.S. markets there were quite a few key economic data releases that affect the international market.

The Canadian GDP grew 2.7 percent on an annualized basis in the third quarter.

The Indian GDP grew 4.8 percent year over year, above the 4.6 percent consensus during the third quarter.

See also: 3 Reasons India will Increase the Price of Gold and Oil

The Netherlands lost its membership in the exclusive AAA rating club. This morning S&P downgraded Netherlands to AA+ leaving just Germany, Luxembourg and Finland as the only nations in the eurozone that still maintain an AAA rating.

Spain is expected to begin its recovery in 2014 with a 0.8 percent economic growth following by 1.2 percent growth in 2015. S&P reaffirmed the country's rating at BBB-/A-3 but its outlook has been raised to “stable” from “negative.”

Eurozone unemployment slipped to 12.1 percent in October from 12.2 percent in September.

Unemployment rate in Japan came in at 4 percent, slightly higher than the 3.9 percent forecasted.

Equities-Specific News of Note

During an interview with Bloomberg TV, Belus Capital Advisors CEO Brian Sozzi sees parts of J.C. Penney JCP being a “virtual ghost-town, pretty much as it has looked the entire year.” Macy's M has been singled out as a winner in the all important super competitive Black Friday retail space. J.C. Penney nevertheless finished higher by 0.79 percent, closing at $10.16. Macy's declined 0.52 percent, closing at $53.26.

Target TGT reported a “strong start” to Black Friday, citing doorbusters as driving heavy traffic to both brick and mortar locations as well as online. Shares of Target lost 0.75 percent, closing at $63.93.

Wal-Mart WMT saw over 10 million transactions between 6:00pm and 10:00pm last night. Shares of Wal-Mart gained 0.10 percent, closing at $81.01. Shares hit new 52 week highs of $81.34 earlier in the trading day.

According to data from ChannelAdvisor thanksgiving e-commerce same-store sales grew 20.3 percent year over year at eBay EBAY with Amazon.com AMZN seeing a 48.5 percent same-store growth. Shares of eBay gained 2.52 percent, closing at $50.54 while Amazon gained 1.79 percent, closing at $393.62. Shares hit new 52 week highs of $394.10 earlier in the trading day.

Rio Tinto RIO announced that it will terminate production of alumina at its unprofitable Gove refinery in Australia. Shares gained 4.18 percent, closing at $53.07.

RBC Capital Markets are estimating Macau gaming revenue to grow 20 percent in November. Credit Suisse, on the other hand, believes that Macau gaming stocks will continue to underperform the Hong Kong Hang Seng index as “share prices have recently become seemingly immune to positive news flow.” Shares of Las Vegas Sands LVS gained 0.25 percent, closing at $71.72. Wynn Resorts WYNN gained 0.09 percent, closing at $165.71. MGM Resorts MGM gained 0.05 percent, closing at $19.19.

According to Bloomberg Alan Mulally and Satya Nadella are the two frontrunners to replace Steve Ballmer as head of Microsoft. MSFT Shares closed higher by 1.41 percent at $38.13. Shares hit new 52 week highs of $38.29 earlier in the trading day.

See also: Is an Italian Car Company the Best Way to Profit from China's Economic Growth?

Winners of Note

Shares of Zoom Technologies, Inc. ZOOM surged 169.17 percent, closing at $6.46 (trading as high as $8.30 in the morning) following the company entering into a letter of intent with Beijing Baifen to acquire, directly or indirectly, all the outstanding shares of Baifen

Frontline Ltd. FRO gained 9.89 percent, closing at $3.00 following the Baltic Dry index climbing more than 9 percent on Thursday. The index provides “an assessment of the price of moving the major raw materials by sea.”

Decliners of Note

Shares of Renren RENN tumbled 11.04 percent, closing at $2.98 after the company offered a weak fourth quarter guidance and mixed third quarter results. Analysts at Jefferies cut Renren to Underperform

W&T Offshore WTI announced that the company is facing suspension from fedal contracts due to pollution issues. Shares declined 9.04 percent, closing at $17.21.

Earnings of Note

No companies reported earnings Friday.

Quote of the Day

"An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day." - Irv "Kup" Kupcinet, famed newspaper columnist, television talk-show host and radio broadcast personality.

Posted In: NewsAfter-Hours CenterAlan MulallyBaltic Dry IndexBelus Capital Advisorsblack friday shoppingCanada GDPcasinosChannelAdvisore-commerceEurozoneFrontline shippingIndian GDPJ.C. PenneyJapanMacaumacy'sonline shoppingS&P raingSatya NadellaspainSteve BallmerTargetThanksgivingWal-Mart
We simplify the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!

Loading...