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Main indices held on to small monthly gains though
U.S. stocks closed lower on Monday, 30 November 2015 but the main indexes held on to small monthly gains as investors weighed the kickoff of the holiday shopping season along with weaker-than-expected economic data ahead of a busy week of economic releases and central-bank watching. An uptick in oil prices gave energy shares a boost on the day, with the energy sector leading the S&P 500 closing up 0.4%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 78.63 points, or 0.4%, to 17,719.86 on Monday and gained 0.3% over the month. The Nasdaq Composite ended the day down 18.86 points, or 0.4%, at 5,108.67 and posted a 1.1% gain over the past month. The S&P 500 closed 9.64 points, or 0.4% lower at 2,080.47 and eked out a less than 0.1% gain over the month.
Meanwhile, financials were the best performer on the S&P 500 for the month, posting a 1.7% rise, as investors anticipated that an interest-rate hike could boost banks' net-interest income. And the utilities sector was the S&P 500's worst performer of the month.
This week could be volatile for markets, with a policy meeting at the European Central Bank on Thursday and speeches by Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen on the docket. Friday brings the last batch of U.S. jobs numbers before the Fed's December policy meeting. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries also meets on Friday.
Among stocks under focus, Amazon.com was among the retailers in the spotlight as investors assessed the holiday weekend of sales. Amazon's shares fell 1.3% on Monday. Shares of Microsoft inched 0.8 higher, after rising earlier as high as 1.7%, after the company got upgraded to strong buy from market perform at Raymond James.
Economic data at Wall Street on Monday included Chicago PMI and Pending Home Sales. The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index for November dipped to 48.7 from 56.2 in October while the consensus expected a reading of 55.0. New orders were largely responsible for the pullback as the related index fell to 44.1, its lowest level since March, from 59.4 in October. Other components saw little change with Employment and Supplier Deliveries holding above 50 while Order Backlogs have remained below 50 for the tenth consecutive month, which represents ongoing contraction. Pending home sales for October rose 0.2% while the consensus expected an increase of 0.7%.
Bullion prices posted moderate gains on Monday, 30 November 2015 after gold prices last Friday set a 5.5-year low. There were no major, fresh, markets-moving geopolitical developments for the marketplace to focus upon Monday, which is the last trading day of the month. The start of the Christmas shopping season is getting attention, as Black Friday is being followed by Cyber Monday today.
February Comex gold ended up $9.00 at $1,065.30 an ounce. March Comex silver ended up $0.032 at $14.08 an ounce.
The International Monetary Fund added the Chinese yuan to its basket of official IMF reserve currencies in its latest move. The move was expected and did not move the markets. However, it's just one more development that shows the growing influence and power of China on the world stage.
Crude oil futures edged lower on Monday, 30 November 2015 to tally a monthly loss of more than 10%. Prices have been pressured by a global glut of crude supplies and expectations that members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries won't cut output at their meeting Friday to help stabilize prices. January crude settled at $41.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 6 cents, or 0.1%, for the session on Monday.
Crude Oil prices have been sliding for over a year since the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries opted to keep production high to protect market share and bump out rivals in the U.S. and those outside the cartel. OPEC is set to hold its next meeting on Friday.
Oil traders will also be taking cues from various central banks this week. Expectations are high that European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will announce a round of fresh measures this Thursday aimed at boost the eurozone economy.
Treasuries spent the day in a very narrow range. The 10-yr note held a modest loss during overnight action, but it ticked into the green in the morning to end on its high with the benchmark yield down one basis point at 2.21%.
Today's intraday participation was very light, but a late surge in activity took place just before the closing bell to push the final NYSE floor volume above the 1.1 billion share mark.
Tomorrow, October Construction Spending (consensus 0.7%) and the November ISM Index (consensus 50.4) will both be released at 10:00 ET.
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