There Was One Less Trading Day This Week Because Of The Thanksgiving Day Holiday On Thursday And Trading Volume Was On The Lighter Side.
That didn't alter the stock market's prevailing disposition, however. It was another winning week for the major indices, which were supported by some generally broad‐based buying interest.
To be fair, the mega‐cap stocks led the show again. The Vanguard Mega‐Cap Growth ETF (MGK) gained 1.2% this week, yet the Invesco S&P 500 Equal‐Weight ETF (RSP) gained 1.0%.
Every S&P 500 sector finished higher. The best‐performing sectors were the health care (+2.2%), consumer staples (+1.4%), and communication services (+1.3%) sectors. The relative laggards were the energy (+0.3%), utilities (+0.6%), and information technology (+0.6%) sectors.
NVIDIA (NVDA) was a key story stock during the week. The AI chip giant reported its quarterly results after the close on Tuesday. They were blowout results yet again, but there was some chatter about investors being disappointed that the company lacked visibility into how the export curbs to China will ultimately impact its sales in coming quarters. On Thursday, Reuters reported that NVIDIA is going to be delaying its China AI chip.
In its defense, NVIDIA was ripe for a pullback on just about any news. It had rallied 25% from its October 26 low going into its report. One could also make a case, then, that its soft finish to the week might have been a case of selling on the news more than genuine disappointment about its sales visibility in China, especially since the company also said the affected sales from U.S. export curbs are being more than offset by growth in other regions.
Tellingly, NVIDIA's soft finish did not derail the broader market on Wednesday or Thursday. There was continued resilience to the idea that the stock market is overbought and due for a pullback. That resilience continued to feed a fear of missing out on further gains that propped up the indices along with the continued belief that the Fed is done raising rates.
That belief drowned out a view in the FOMC Minutes for the October 31‐November 1 meeting that suggested the Fed would raise rates again if it felt that was necessary. That wasn't anything the market hadn't heard already, so it was more of a headline talking point for the market than a market mover.
There was a batch of earnings results out of the retail space this week that moved plenty of individual stocks, including Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS), Nordstrom (JWN), Best Buy (BBY), Kohl's (KSS), Lowe's (LOW), Burlington Stores (BURL), and American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) to name a few. Collectively, the results were digested in a mostly positive manner. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) gained 1.0% for the week.
The economic data this week had some mixed hues. Specifically, existing homes sales in October transpired at the slowest annual pace (3.79 million) since August 2010 while initial jobless claims for the week ending November 18 decreased by 24,000 to a surprisingly low 209,000.
For the week, the 2‐yr note yield increased five basis points to 4.95% and the 10‐yr note yield increased three basis points to 4.47%.
Next week will feature an important slate of economic data that includes October New Home Sales, November Consumer Confidence, the second estimate for Q3 GDP, October Personal Income and Spending, which will include the PCE Price Indexes, Initial Jobless Claims, and the November ISM Manufacturing Index.
In turn, the earnings calendar will feature some high‐profile earnings reporters, namely Zscaler (ZS), CrowdStrike (CRWD), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Intuit (INTU), NetApp (NTAP), Workday (WDAY), Dollar Tree (DLTR), Foot Locker (FL), Five Below (FIVE), Okta (OKTA), PVH (PVH), Salesforce (CRM), and Snowflake (SNOW).
Nasdaq Composite: +0.9% for the week / +36.2% YTD
S&P 500: +1.0% for the week / +18.7% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +1.3% for the week / +6.8% YTD
S&P Midcap 400: ++0.9% for the week / +5.3% YTD
Russell 2000: +0.5% for the week / +2.6% YTD