US Stocks Slip, Tech Rises On Solid Holiday Sales, Treasury Yields Soften: What's Driving Markets Monday?

U.S. stocks are kicking off the week with a slight dip, as all major indices trade in the red in New York, except for the tech stocks of the Nasdaq 100, which are showing positive momentum following the release of encouraging data after Black Friday.

Initial data from Adobe and Salesforce indicates robust Black Friday online sales, slightly surpassing expectations, according to Bank of America. Overall, online sales have outperformed offline ones, a sentiment also echoed by Goldman Sachs, which noted subdued in-store traffic, with no lines forming during opening hours.

Treasury yields are once again declining as investors increasingly anticipate a soft landing for the economy. The dollar remains stable while the price of gold edges higher to reach $2,010 per ounce. Oil prices dipped with the oil producers’ meeting scheduled for Thursday.

Performance Of US Stock Indices Monday

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY eased 0.07% to $455.03.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF DIA edged 0.2% lower to $352.96. 
• The Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ rose 0.25% to $390.45.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM fell 0.45% to $178.53, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Chart Of The Day: S&P 500 Eyes Best Month Since July 2022

Sector, Industry ETF Performance

Real estate stocks led gains among equity sectors, with the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund XLRE up 0.6%, followed by consumer discretionary, with the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund XLY up 0.5%.

Energy was the laggard, with the the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE down 1%.

Gold miners outperformed among equity industries, with the VanEck Gold Miners ETF GDX up 0.9%.

Solar stocks, as tracked by the Invesco Solar ETF TAN, continue to underperform, down by 1.52%, after tumbling 1.9% on Friday.

Latest Economic Data

October 2023 saw the U.S. housing market display mixed signals with a downturn in new home sales but an uptick in building permits.  Sales of new single-family houses reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 679,000 in October, implying a 5.6% decrease from September's revised rate of 719,000.

Building permits rose by 1.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.498 million, slightly above the preliminary estimate of 1.487 million.

Stocks In Focus

• The Trade Desk, Inc. TTD, MercadoLibre, Inc. MELI and Zoom Video Communications, Inc. ZM, led gains among Nasdaq 100 stocks, up 3.9%, 3.8% and 1.7%, respectively.
• Domino’s Pizza Inc. DPZ was the S&P 500’s best performer for the day, up 4.5% as TD Cowen raised its price target from $410 to $430.
• Crown Castle Inc. CCI experienced a 4% rally, reaching its highest level since late July, as activist investor Elliott Management acquired over $2 billion worth of stock in the wireless tower company.
• Some of the worst-performing stocks include Albemarle Corp. ALB, WK Kellog Co KLC and Petco Health And Wellness Co Inc. WOOF, with each of them experiencing a decline of approximately 5%.

Commodities, Bonds, Other Global Equity Markets And Crypto

The United States Oil Fund, LP USO, which tracks the performance of light sweet crude, was 1.8% lower.

Gold, as monitored through the SPDR Gold Trust GLD, rose 0.4% to $2,010/oz. Silver rose 1.3% to $24.62.

As yields declined, bond soared, with the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT up 0.9%.

European equity indices fell. The SPDR DJ Euro STOXX 50 ETF  FEZ edged down 0.5%.

Bitcoin BTC/USD was 1.5% down to $36,918.50, while Ethereum ETH/USD fell 2.5% to $2,012.81.

Shanthi Rexaline contributed to this report.

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