US open: Stocks mixed following PCE data

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street stocks were mostly higher at the opening bell on Thursday as a winning month for stocks gets set to draw to a close. As of 1455 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.68% at 35,672.79 and the S&P 500 had advanced 0.07% to 4,553.58, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.18% at 14,232.68.

The Dow opened 242.37 points higher on Thursday, extending gains recorded in the previous session after US GDP figures came in ahead of expectations,

Major averages were on track to see out November with solid gains, putting an end to a three-month losing streak. For the month, the S&P 500 was up 8.5%, while the Nasdaq picked up nearly 11%. The blue-chip Dow Jones was up 7.2% in November, setting the stage for its best month since last October.

Thursday's primary focus was news that US inflation had eased, as expected, in the month of October, according to data released Thursday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which will provide some reassurance to the Federal Reserve that elevated interest rates were doing their job of cooling economic growth and taming price pressures. The personal consumption expenditures index for October flatlined during the month after 0.4% growth in September, slightly below the 0.1% increase expected by analysts.

Meanwhile, the annual change in the core PCE - which excludes more volatile items like food and energy to give a more accurate gauge of inflationary pressures and as such is the Fed's preferred measure of inflation - slowed to 3.5% from 3.7%, in line with economists' forecasts. Data also revealed that US personal incomes increased by 0.2% over October as expected, slowing from 0.4% growth in September, while personal spending growth also eased to 0.2%, from 0.7% previously.

Elsewhere on the macro front, Americans filed unemployment claims at an accelerated clip in the week ended 25 November, according to the Labor Department. Initial jobless claims rose by 7,000 to 218,000 last week, up from a revised figure of 211,000 for the previous week but short of market expectations for a print of 220,000.

Continuing claims, on the other hand, surged by 86,000 to 1.92m, marking the highest level since November 2021, while the four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, fell by 500 to 220,000. Non-seasonally adjusted claims dropped by 42,136 to 198,843, driven by declines in California, Texas, Oregon, Florida and Georgia.

On another note, November's Chicago purchasing managers' index surged to 55.8 in November, according to the Institute for Supply Management, up from 44 in the prior month, well above market forecasts for a print of 45.4 and the first month of expansion in Chicago's economic activity since August 2022.

Still to come, pending home sales will be on deck at 1500 GMT.

In the corporate space, Big Lots posted a narrower-than-expected third-quarter loss at the bell, while Kroger cut its full-year sales guidance on the back of uneven grocery demand and lower prices.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $251.78 9.30% Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $93.73 1.33% Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $540.17 0.97% Chevron Corp. (CVX) $144.99 0.75% Boeing Co. (BA) $226.10 0.74% International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $157.40 0.64% Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $268.30 0.64% Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $37.92 0.44% Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $341.70 0.42% Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $178.11 0.38%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $19.73 -1.27% Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $100.37 -0.75% Walmart Inc. (WMT) $154.94 -0.73% Nike Inc. (NKE) $109.60 -0.70% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $57.85 -0.65% McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $279.08 -0.46% Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $150.56 -0.38% Home Depot Inc. (HD) $310.06 -0.31% Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $378.17 -0.18% 3M Co. (MMM) $98.34 -0.13%

S&P 500 - Risers

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $251.78 9.30% Packaging Corp. Amer (PKG) $165.96 2.54% Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $25.90 2.37% PVH Corp. (PVH) $93.65 2.36% Fortinet Inc. (FTNT) $54.83 2.29% Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) $52.99 2.16% Westrock Company (WRK) $40.95 2.12% Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) $150.37 2.00% Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) $16.84 1.97% International Paper Co. (IP) $36.48 1.93%

S&P 500 - Fallers

CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $1.29 -4.44% Kohls Corp. (KSS) $23.12 -3.06% VF Corp. (VFC) $16.64 -2.86% Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $120.23 -2.55% Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (SWK) $89.38 -2.28% Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $65.49 -1.76% Dominion Energy Inc. (D) $45.94 -1.68% Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $3.58 -1.65% Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $99.92 -1.62% Mohawk Inds Inc. (MHK) $86.44 -1.55%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $35.06 1.71% Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $560.11 1.38% Incyte Corp. (INCY) $54.00 1.14% Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $266.36 1.09% Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $277.64 0.88% Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $215.55 0.79% Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $353.63 0.75% Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $814.41 0.72% Gen Digital Inc. (GEN) $21.92 0.71% Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $268.30 0.64%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $0.92 -2.70% Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $65.49 -1.76% Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $4.62 -1.70% NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $111.69 -1.70% Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $3.58 -1.65% Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $99.92 -1.62% JD.com, Inc. (JD) $27.03 -1.49% Tesla Inc (TSLA) $240.77 -1.38% Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $19.73 -1.27% Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $16.68 -1.24%