US Stock Market Overview – Stocks Close Mixed; Nasdaq Rallies, and the Dow Sells Off

US stocks were mixed on Wednesday ahead of the Thanksgiving Holiday in the US. The markets will be closed on Thursday. Most sectors in the S&P 500 index were lower, led down by Energy shares, Consumer Staples bucked the trend. The Nasdaq rose while the Dow Industrials took a breather after hitting 30K on Tuesday. The dollar continued to move lower, while yields eased. The Fed meeting minutes showed that the central bank is poised to make changes to its bond purchase program. Jobless claims were a disappointment rising more than expected. GDP for the Q3 came out in line with expectations, while durable goods orders were stronger than expected.

Fed Meeting Minutes are Bullish

Federal Reserve officials in their meeting minutes discussed their asset purchase program in detail and several members said they expect several changes to be enacted. Market participants were looking to the minutes to gauge where policymakers stand on possibly ramping the asset purchase program, which currently has the Fed buying $120 billion of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities a month.

Jobless Claims Rise More than Expected

US Initial Jobless Claims totaled 778,000 for the week ended November 21, more than the 733,000 expectation from and up from 742,000 the previous week, according to the Labor Department. Continuing claims for those collecting benefits for at least two weeks maintained their decline, falling to 6.07 million, a drop of 299,000.

GDP Rose in Line with Expectations

The gross domestic product grew at an unrevised 33.1% annualized rate, in the Q3 according to the Commerce Department. This confirmed the economy’s historic pace of expansion in the third quarter. The economy contracted at a 31.4% rate in the Q2, the deepest since the government started keeping records in 1947.

Durable Goods Orders Rise

US Durable Goods Orders increased 1.3% in October after racing up 2.1% in September. Durable goods orders were lifted by a 1.2% increase in orders for transportation equipment, which followed a 3.3% jump in September. Orders for motor vehicles and parts fell 3.2%. Orders for civilian aircraft increased 38.8%. Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, rose 0.7% last month. Core capital goods orders surged 1.9% in September. Expectations had been for core capital goods orders increasing by 0.5%. Core capital goods orders rose 0.2% year-on-year in October.