US stocks eke out gains

Health-care and real-estate shares lead the gains

U.S. stocks closed higher on Tuesday, 29 November 2016 with the Nasdaq touching a record, but the market failed to make much headway as oil futures slumped ahead of a key meeting of major crude producers. Better than expected economic data was peppered into the pre-market mix that was pretty bland otherwise. The second reading of gross domestic product showed the economy grew at the fastest pace in over two years in the third quarter, while a measure of consumer confidence soared in November to pre recession levels.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 23.70 points, or 0.1%, to finish at 19,121.60. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 11.11 points, or 0.2%, to close at 5,379.92 after touching an intraday trading high of 5,403.86 earlier. The S&P 500 index added 2.94 points, or 0.1%, to end at 2,204.66, with health-care and real-estate shares leading.

Shares of oil giants Chevron and Exxon Mobil were among the blue-chip index's worst performers. The energy sector was down 1.2% due to oil futures sliding nearly 4% as doubts mounted that the world's biggest crude producers will reach a deal Wednesday to cut global output.

The stock market appeared to be on track for a swift recovery from a Monday dip, but a pullback during the final hour made the rebound appear not nearly as swift. Equity indices started the day on a flat note, but heavily-weighted sectors like health care, financials, and technology sectors saw buying interest from the start, which was enough to improve sentiment around other sectors.

Among economic data expected for the day, third-quarter GDP was revised up to 3.2% from 2.9% (consensus 3.0%), driven by an upward revision to personal expenditures growth. Separately, the November Consumer Confidence report (consensus 100.0) soared past estimates at 107.1, even though the bulk of the survey was conducted amid pre-election uncertainty. Separately, the Case-Shiller 20-city Index for September showed an increase of 5.1% while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 5.2%

The ICE dollar index rose nearly 4% since the U.S. presidential election, while 10-year Treasury yields hit 2.32%, highest levels since 2003, as investors bet on fiscal-stimulus driven growth and higher inflation under the new administration.

The Italian referendum on Sunday is seen as one of the bigger political risks with the potential to destabilize European markets. While the ballot is on proposed constitutional reforms, it is generally being seen in the country as a vote of confidence in Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, with the risk that a victory for no will lead to his resignation and the dissolution of Italy's government.

Intraday trading volume was below average, but final-hour selling brought the NYSE floor total up to 901 million.

Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be released at 7:00 ET while November ADP Employment Change (consensus 160K) will be reported at 8:15 ET. October Personal Income (consensus 0.4%), Personal Spending (consensus 0.5%), and Core PCE Price Index (consensus 0.1%) will be released at 8:30 ET while Chicago PMI for November (consensus 52.0) will cross the wires at 9:45 ET. October Pending Home Sales (consensus 0.7%) are expected at 10:00 ET, and the day's data will be topped off with the 14:00 ET release of the Federal Reserve's Beige Book for November.

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