There isn’t much to be said about the stock market this morning. It is doing very little, but to be fair, it is doing very little presumably because it has been doing so much since late October. It needs a break — or so it would seem.
This week is as good a week as any to take a break. It is a holiday-shortened week. The market will be closed Thursday for Thanksgiving and it will close early at 1:00 p.m. ET on Friday.
Travel plans and school breaks are already underway, and will continue throughout the week, which will lead to increasingly thinner trading conditions as the attention of market participants is understandably diverted elsewhere.
Currently, the S&P 500 futures are up one point and are trading in-line with fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are up 12 points and are trading 0.1% above fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 10 points and are trading fractionally below fair value.
Conviction is lacking at the moment, which means the opening action should see the major indices confined to narrow trading ranges.
There just isn’t a lot of news to get the market worked up one way or another. Microsoft (MSFT) had been up close to 2.0% earlier, but is now up a more modest 0.4% in pre-market action, reacting to the news that it has hired Sam Altman to lead Microsoft’s AI team.
Mr. Altman was ousted Friday from his CEO position at OpenAI by the company’s board of directors.
Other items in the news mix, but not really driving any meaningful movement, include the People’s Bank of China leaving its one-year and five-year loan prime rates unchanged at 3.45% and 4.20%, respectively, and Treasury Secretary Yellen saying she thinks considerable progress has been made in bringing down inflation and that a higher interest rate environment poses challenges for the budget that need to be addressed.
There will be a $16 billion 20-yr bond auction today. Results will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET. Treasuries are mixed in front of the auction. The 2-yr note yield is down one basis point to 4.89% and the 10-yr note yield is up three basis points to 4.47%.
Today’s lone economic release is the October Leading Economic Index at 10:00 a.m. ET.
—
Originally Posted November 20, 2023 – Taking a break
Disclosure: Interactive Brokers
Information posted on IBKR Campus that is provided by third-parties does NOT constitute a recommendation that you should contract for the services of that third party. Third-party participants who contribute to IBKR Campus are independent of Interactive Brokers and Interactive Brokers does not make any representations or warranties concerning the services offered, their past or future performance, or the accuracy of the information provided by the third party. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
This material is from Briefing.com and is being posted with its permission. The views expressed in this material are solely those of the author and/or Briefing.com and Interactive Brokers is not endorsing or recommending any investment or trading discussed in the material. This material is not and should not be construed as an offer to buy or sell any security. It should not be construed as research or investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security or commodity. This material does not and is not intended to take into account the particular financial conditions, investment objectives or requirements of individual customers. Before acting on this material, you should consider whether it is suitable for your particular circumstances and, as necessary, seek professional advice.
Join The Conversation
If you have a general question, it may already be covered in our FAQs. If you have an account-specific question or concern, please reach out to Client Services.