Image Source: PixabayAfter yesterday’s extraordinary advance across major indexes in the stock market, today those indexes understandably took a breather. The Dow returned -68 points of yesterday’s +700, or -0.16% on the session. The S&P 500 was on a similar tack, -0.12%, while the Nasdaq gave back -0.89% of its +2.4% gains in Wednesday’s trading. Only the small-cap Russell 2000 came in higher on the day, +0.40%.
Thursday in the Stock Market
We started off in today’s pre-market with continued tame Weekly Jobless Claims, Retail Sales, a slight increase on Imports and Exports, and the first really big read on Philly Fed manufacturing in more than three years. None of it was enough to curb the re-think that yesterday’s exuberance had gotten a bit out of line.Later on during the session, we saw Business Inventories for November come in as expected at +0.1%, and 10 mere basis points (bps) up from the previous month. Also, a new Homebuilder Confidence Index for January came in at 47 — higher than expected; in fact, this was the highest print since April of last year. Mortgage rates have remained high but perhaps are expected to continue downward; part of yesterday’s market exuberance came after weaker CPI numbers suggested another Fed interest rate cut between now and June.In terms of bond yields today, both the 10-year and the 2-year cooled a bit from recent highs. The 10-year yield came in at +4.615% — notably lower than the +4.763% on Tuesday, which was the highest rate we’d seen in the past 15 months. The 2-year’s +4.238% nestles comfortably between September’s +3.548% and last April’s +5.046%.
J.B. Hunt Mixed on Q4 Results
After today’s closing bell, transportation major J.B. Hunt (JBHT – Free Report) missed Q4 earnings estimates by a solid dime to $1.53 per share, on revenues for the quarter that came in exactly in-line with the $3.15 billion Zacks consensus. Improvements in its Intermodal business were offset to the downside by Revenue per Load and the higher-margin Dedicated Services business. Shares had dropped by -1% in late trading for the Zacks Rank #4 (Sell)-rated company.
What to Expect on Friday: Housing Starts, Industrial Production Numbers
After today’s Homebuilder Confidence survey, Friday morning brings us Housing Starts and Building Permits for December ahead of the opening bell. Expectations are for new Starts to gain modestly but Permits to slip a bit. Again, we’re looking at a market strongly affected by interest rates, which set mortgage rates, so we expect the headwinds to be a factor.We’ll also get new productivity numbers with the December print on Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization 15 minutes before Friday’s open. Production is expected to swing to a positive +0.2% from -0.1% the prior month, while Utilization looks to advance incrementally, +77.0% from +76.8% last go-around.More By This Author:Markets Rally On Soft CPI, Good Q4 Bank EarningsTop Research Reports For Visa, AbbVie & Analog DevicesMarkets Mostly Up On To Start A New Trading Week
