Stocks were little changed on Monday but remained on track to book their best month in over a year as upbeat investors keep rally hopes alive.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI), the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC), and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) were near the flatline at the opening bell after booking their fourth straight weekly win on Friday.
High optimism for an end to US interest rate hikes has buoyed November’s rally in stocks, setting the Dow up for its strongest month since October of last year — and since July 2022 for the Nasdaq and S&P 500.
In a sign those upbeat spirits aren’t fading, the VIX — known as Wall Street’s “fear gauge” — closed on Friday at its lowest level since January 2020. On Monday, the mood was muted as Wall Street got back to work after the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
But a fresh reading on PCE inflation due Thursday could put the rally to the test, given it’s the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of consumer price pressures.
In the meantime, investors will monitor Cyber Monday updates for insight into whether Americans will splash out on holiday purchases even as purse strings tighten. Black Friday online sales rose 7.5% year over year to a record $9.8 billion while in-store totals also jumped.
Read more: 6 ways to save money on your Black Friday shopping list
In commodities, oil prices slid as traders increasingly braced for more output cuts at the delayed OPEC+ meeting this week. Brent crude futures (BZ=F) dropped below $80 a barrel, down 1%, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were 1.4% lower but held above $74.
Stocks trending in morning trading
Here are some of the stocks leading Yahoo Finance’s trending tickers page during morning trading on Monday:
Shopify (SHOP): Shares rose more than 4% after the e-commerce platform said that merchants recorded $4.1 billion in sales on Black Friday, an increase of more than 20% from last year.
Amazon (AMZN): The tech giant rose more than 1% Monday morning alongside a host of retailers that kicked off their cyber Monday deals after an initial strong showing from Holiday season shoppers. Retail sales in the US on Black Friday rose 2.5% from last year, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse.
Foot Locker (FL): Shares of the retailer fell by more than 2% Monday morning after Citigroup analysts downgraded the stock a Sell rating, forecasting that the footwear company could end its year in a weakened position.
Snowflake (SNOW): Snowflake traded higher in morning trading Monday as investors brace for the company’s third quarter results scheduled on Wednesday The cloud-computing data management company is expected to post earnings of $0.16 per share on revenue of $713 million
Stocks open little changed
The mood on Wall Street was muted Monday morning as the indexes stayed close to the flatline after notching their fourth straight weekly win.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) edged higher by about 0.07%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was flat. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) lost nearly 0.2%.
KStock futures tread water as Wall Street returns
US futures fell slightly on Monday, but stocks stayed on track for their strongest showing in more than a year as investors picked up the reins after the long Thanksgiving weekend.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) dropped 0.15%, or 50 points, while S&P 500 (^GSPC) futures dipped 0.10%. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) ticked 0.03% lower.
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