Yahoo Finance Stock market news today: Stocks close higher while yields fall
Stocks closed higher to cap off a fairly muted trading day on Tuesday as cautious investors assessed signs the roaring November rally could be overdone.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) closed up more than 0.2% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) gained roughly 0.3%. The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.1%.
With the end of November in sight, investors are weighing whether a pullback is coming after a red-hot surge put stocks on course for their best monthly performance in more than a year.
The bullish sentiment comes as investors place bets the Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates — although two separate speeches from Fed Governor Michelle Bowman and Fed Governor Christopher Waller on Tuesday signaled the central bank has differing opinions on whether interest rates need to go higher.
As Yahoo Finance's Jennifer Schonberger reports, Bowman said she thinks the Fed will have to raise rates further to bring inflation down "to our 2% target in a timely way."
But Waller said he is becoming more confident rates are at the right levels even though he needs more data to be sure. Treasury yields fell on his comments with the 10-year yield (^TNX) dropping about 5 basis points to trade around 4.34% — near September levels.
Investors may well be treading carefully ahead of two key batches of economic data due later this week. Wednesday brings an update on GDP in the third quarter, while Thursday's PCE reading on consumer inflation — the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge — will set expectations for policymakers' next rate move.
New data out from the Conference Board on Tuesday showed consumer confidence increased in November. The Conference Board's index jumped to 102.0 in November, up from a downwardly revised 99.1 in October.
Despite the improvement, however, the Expectations Index remained below 80 for a third consecutive month — a level that historically signals a recession within the next year, according to the Conference Board.
Read more: What the Fed rate-hike pause means for bank accounts, CDs, loans, and credit cards
Meanwhile, investors are paying keen attention to how retailers are faring now that Black Friday has kicked off the holiday shopping season.
On Cyber Monday, consumers spent $12.4 billion online, up 9.6% compared to last year, per Adobe Analytics' data on e-commerce. As people looked to cash in last-minute deals between 10 and 11 p.m. Eastern, $15.7 million was spent every minute.
In commodities, oil prices gained as the dollar weakened — pulling down prices for holders of other currencies — and expectations grew for more output cuts at this week's delayed OPEC+ meeting. Brent crude futures (BZ=F) settled at just below $82 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures closed up more than 2% to settle above $76.
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