US close: Stocks lower as traders thumb over multiple data points

Wall Street closed lower on Wednesday as market participants digested a slew of economic data, including the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.31% at 44,722.06, while the S&P 500 lost 0.38% to 5,998.74 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.60% weaker at 19,060.48.

The Dow closed 138.25 points lower on Wednesday, reversing gains recorded in the previous session.

Wednesday's primary focus was October's personal consumption expenditures index, which revealed Americans continued to spend freely last month amid a slight pick up in price pressures. According to the Department of Commerce, personal consumption expenditures grew at a month-on-month pace of 0.4% in October and personal incomes by 0.6%. Economists had expected to see both rise by 0.3%. The rate of PCE growth for the prior month was revised higher by one-tenth of a percentage point to 0.6%.

The annual rate of increase in the headline PCE price deflator meanwhile rose from 2.1% for October to 2.3% in November, as expected. Core PCE inflation sped up by one-tenth of a percentage point to reach 2.8%, which was also as anticipated, while the personal savings rate improved from 4.1% to 4.4%. The PCE reading, closely watched by the central bank, will be key to investors who have hoped to gain some kind of insight into just what the Fed's move may be at its December meeting.

Also making macro headlines, the Commerce Department revealed on Wednesday that the US economy expanded 2.8% in the three months ended 30 September, in line with preliminary estimates, on the back of solid strong consumer spending and increased exports. Q3's GDP reading was down from Q2's rate of 3% but still seemed to indicate that the US economy proved to be surprisingly durable throughout the period. The Commerce Department made slight downward revisions to consumer spending, government outlays and exports had been offset by upgrades to private inventory accumulation, business investment, as well as state and local government spending. Consumer spending, which makes up more than two-thirds of economic activity, grew at a 3.5% clip in Q3.

On another note, Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a broadly flat pace in the week ended 23 November, according to the Labor Department. Initial jobless claims held steady at 213,000 last week, below expectations of a modest uptick to 216,000, extending the view that the US labour market remains at historically strong levels despite the Federal Reserve's aggressive tightening cycle of recent quarters and giving the central bank space to slow the pace at which it loosens monetary policy. The four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, fell by 1,250 to 217,000, while outstanding claims rose to 1.90m in the week, the highest reading since November 2021.

Moving on, US mortgage applications surged 6.3% in the week ended 22 November, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, building on the prior week's 1.7% increase. Last week's increase marked the sharpest increase in mortgage applications in two months, principally due to benchmark mortgage rates easing off somewhat. Applications to purchase a home soared 12% week-on-week, while those to refinance an existing home loan fell by 3% against the previous week.

Elsewhere, US wholesale inventories rose 0.2% month-on-month to $905.0bn in October, according to the Census Bureau, rebounding from the prior month's 0.2% fall. Durable goods inventories went up 0.1% following a 0.6% decline in September, while non-durable goods stocks grew 0.4%, up from 0.3% a month earlier. On an annualised basis, wholesale inventories increased by 0.9%.

With durable goods in mind, new orders for US-made durable goods rose 0.2% month-on-month to $286.56bn in October, according to the Census Bureau, following a revised 0.4% decrease in September and falling short of expectations of 0.5% increase.

On another note, the Institute for Supply Management's Chicago purchasing managers index slid to 40.2 in November, down from 41.6 in October and falling short of forecasts of 44 to point to the 12th consecutive monthly drop and the steepest decline since May.

Finally, pending home sales increased 5.4% year-on-year in October, according to the National Association of Realtors, the biggest monthly gain since May 2021, following a 2.6% increase in September.

In the corporate space, Dell Technologies shares were lower after posting weaker-than-expected Q3 revenues, while shares in fellow technology giant HP also headed south after it issued soft Q125 earnings guidance.

Markets will be closed on Thursday in celebration of the Thanksgiving Day break and will close early on Friday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $9.06 3.78%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $117.57 1.86%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $103.12 1.48%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $266.66 1.10%
Boeing Co. (BA) $152.40 1.09%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $78.34 0.94%
Visa Inc. (V) $314.70 0.92%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $91.88 0.62%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $155.40 0.57%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $608.23 0.26%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $329.85 -3.84%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $23.65 -1.66%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $422.99 -1.17%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $403.75 -1.01%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $227.24 -0.83%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $427.48 -0.54%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $59.29 -0.50%
American Express Co. (AXP) $304.23 -0.43%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $295.08 -0.42%
3M Co. (MMM) $132.51 -0.35%

S&P 500 - Risers

Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $1.13 6.07%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $375.25 4.10%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $9.06 3.78%
VeriSign Inc. (VRSN) $191.63 3.49%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $71.50 3.44%
Foot Locker Inc. (FL) $25.34 3.39%
AES Corp. (AES) $12.99 3.26%
Agilent Technologies Inc. (A) $138.14 2.81%
Target Corp. (TGT) $130.09 2.80%
Dollar General Corp (DG) $76.17 2.17%

S&P 500 - Fallers

HP Inc (HPQ) $34.66 -11.36%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $290.64 -8.59%
Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) $22.63 -8.12%
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) $20.80 -6.01%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $122.43 -5.53%
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) $182.70 -4.03%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $329.85 -3.84%
CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $7.39 -3.66%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $98.20 -3.54%
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $14.75 -3.09%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

JD.com, Inc. (JD) $37.19 5.26%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $375.25 4.10%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $9.06 3.78%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $71.50 3.44%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $14.47 2.26%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $19.59 2.11%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $13.98 1.64%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $84.82 1.57%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $63.79 1.41%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $159.80 1.34%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $290.64 -8.59%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $253.40 -6.21%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $98.20 -3.54%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $2,043.16 -3.17%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $159.67 -3.08%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $513.68 -2.21%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $71.57 -1.99%
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $304.63 -1.76%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $99.96 -1.67%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $23.65 -1.66%