Today’s Big Picture

Asia-Pacific equity markets finished the day up across the board. India’s SENSEX rose 0.13%, China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.26%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.29%, Taiwan’s TAIEX added 0.36%, and Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea’s KOSPI closed 0.50% and 0.61% higher, respectively. Australia’s ASX All Ordinaries ended the day up 0.72% as Communications names boosted the mixed results at the sector level. European markets are ahead in midday trading, and U.S. equity futures point to a positive open.

Following the move lower in Treasury yields this week, which furthered the November stock market melt-up, the 8:30 AM ET release of October Personal Income & Spending data, and the accompanying PCE Price Index data will be this morning’s attention-getter. The personal consumption expenditures price index, excluding food and energy prices, rose 0.2% for the month and 3.5% on a year-over-year basis, both in line with expectations. Personal income and spending also met expectations, rising 0.2% on the month.

New York Fed President John Williams speaks at 11 AM ET today, and markets will want to take his temperature on this morning’s inflation data, but Fed Chair Powell’s comments tomorrow will be the most influential of the week. Powell’s comments come not only after today’s economic data but also the conclusion of OPEC+’s policy meeting and the next iteration of monthly PMI manufacturing data. Falling energy prices have been a tailwind easing inflation pressures, but with China’s November NBS data falling more than expected – see Data Download for more – OPEC+ could do more than expected in the way of production cuts to support oil prices. The scope of such policy adjustments could be an inflation headwind.

Data Download

International Economy

The official NBS Manufacturing PMI in China edged down to 49.4 in November from 49.5 in October, missing market forecasts of 49.7, and pointing to the lowest print since June, inferring the economy needs more support from the government amid weak demand and a property downturn. New orders shrank faster (49.4 vs 49.5 in October), with foreign sales falling the most in four months (46.3 vs 46.8). NBS Non-Manufacturing PMI for China was down to 50.2 in November from 50.6 a month earlier. It was the 11th straight month of expansion in the service sector but the softest in the sequence, amid further declines in new orders (47.2 vs 46.7), foreign sales (46.8 vs 49.1), and employment (46.9 vs 46.5).

The preliminary November inflation rate in the Euro Area declined to 2.4% YoY, coming in below the market consensus of 2.7%, hitting its lowest level since July 2021. The core rate, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, also cooled to 3.6%, marking its lowest point since April 2022 and coming in below forecasts of 3.9%.

Domestic Economy

On top of the November PCE Price Index and Personal Income and spending data discussed above, we also have the usual Thursday economic data fare which is weekly and continuing jobless claims and natural gas inventories.

In addition, at 9:45 AM ET, the Chicago PMI for November will be released, and the market sees it rising to 45.4 from 44 in October. Then at 10 AM ET, October Pending Home Sales will be published, and it’s expected to show a 2% MoM dip compared to September.

Markets

Equities had another mild day as sectors were mixed, led lower by Consumer Staples (-0.81%), Utilities (-0.79%), and Energy (-0.74%) which were countered by Financials (0.71%) and Real Estate (0.76%). Broad indexes were also mixed as the S&P 500 (-0.09%) and Nasdaq Composite (-0.16%) fell while the Dow closed close to flat with a 0.04% gain and the Russell 2000 ended the day 0.61% higher. In individual names, shares of General Motors (GM) found another gear, gaining 9.38% after the company announced a $10 billion share buyback plan, representing over 21% of outstanding shares.

Here’s how the major market indicators stack up year-to-date:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 6.89%
S&P 500: 18.52%
Nasdaq Composite: 36.23%
Russell 2000: 2.42%
Bitcoin (BTC-USD): 128.12%
Ether (ETH-USD): 69.26%
Stocks to Watch

Before U.S. equity markets begin trading today, Big Lots (BIG), Cracker Barrel (CBRL), Frontline (FRO), Kroger (K), Titan Machinery (TITN), Toronto Dominion Bank (TD) and UBS (UBS) will report their latest quarterly results.

Pre-market breadth is lighter this morning as 201 names in the S&P 500 index have traded hands so far with 153 gainers and 48 decliners. Shares of Salesforce (CRM) and Snowflake (SNOW) are being bid up strongly after both companies’ earnings releases (more below on both) while Mosaic Company (MOS) is coming under some pressure.

Tesla (TSLA) will hold its CyberTruck delivery event today in Austin, Texas.

Salesforce shares surged following upbeat quarterly results and guidance calling for revenue between $9.18-$9.23 billion compared to the $9.22 billion consensus. Management EPS guidance of $2.25-$2.26 for the current quarter topped the $2.18 consensus.

Snowflake shares also jumped in after-market trading after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly results and issued a strong outlook. The company expects product revenue to grow 29%-30% YoY in the current quarter. Snowflake also increased its full-year sales forecast to $2.65 billion, up from its prior guidance of $2.6 billion.

Five Below (FIVE) saw its shares move higher in after-hours trading last night after the company bested top and bottom-line consensus expectations. Comp sales for the quarter rose 2.5% YoY, well ahead of the 1.3% consensus estimate. For the holiday quarter, the company guided comp sales to +2%-3% vs. the 1.9% consensus forecast with EPS of $3.64-$3.80 compared to the $3.70 consensus.

Branded apparel company PVH (PVH) posted mixed quarterly results with EPS that came in ahead of expectations, but revenue fell to $2.36 billion, missing the consensus forecast. For the current, holiday shopping filled quarter, the company issued downside guidance with EPS of $3.45, below the $3.51 consensus, and revenue falling 3%-4% YoY to $2.39-$2.41 billion, missing the $2.59 billion mark.

Victoria’s Secret (VSCO) reported a wider-than-expected loss for its October quarter despite revenue of $1.27 billion matching the consensus forecast. Total comparable sales decreased 7% YoY during the quarter. For the current quarter, the company sees EPS of $2.20-$2.60 vs. the $2.44 consensus.

Costco Wholesale (COST) reported its November net sales rose 5.1% YoY to $20.14 billion with total company comp sales up 3.5%. Excluding the impact of gasoline prices and foreign exchange, total company comparable sales rose 4.4%. US comparable sales for November came in at +1.8% and rose 3.0% excluding gasoline prices and foreign exchange. November e-commerce comparable sales were +9.9%, and +9.8% excluding items.

Discover Financial Services (DFS) is considering selling its student loans portfolio and may explore the transfer of servicing such loans to a third-party provider as it “pursues strategic alternatives” for the student loans business.

The Department of Justice’s trial to block JetBlue’s (JBLU) planned $3.8 billion purchase of Spirit Airlines (SAVE) is set to have closing arguments on Tuesday.

IPOs

Readers who want to dig deeper into the upcoming IPO calendar should visit Nasdaq’s Latest & Upcoming IPOs page.

After Today’s Market Close

Ambarella (AMBA), Dell (DELL), PagerDuty (PD), Marvell (MRVL), Salesforce (CRM), Ulta Beauty (ULTA), and Zumiez (ZUMZ) are slated to report their quarterly results after equities stop trading. Those looking for more on upcoming quarterly earnings reports should head on over to Nasdaq’s Earnings Calendar.

On the Horizon

Friday, December 1

Japan: Jibun Bank Manufacturing PMI (Final) – November
China: Caixin Manufacturing PMI – November
Eurozone: HCOB Manufacturing PMI (Final) – November
UK: S&P/CIPS Manufacturing PMI (Final) – November
US: S&P Global Manufacturing PMI (Final) – November
US: ISM Manufacturing Index – November
US: Construction Spending – October
Thought for the Day

“You can’t be brave if you’ve only had wonderful things happen to you.” ~ Mary Tyler Moore

Disclosures

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Original: Earnings Feed: Daily Markets: Investors Closely Watching November Inflation Reports