Stocks on Wall Street trod water ahead of the bell Tuesday as cautious investors assessed signs the roaring November rally could be overdone.
Futures on the S&P 500 (^GSPC), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) hugged the flatline after a downbeat close to start the week.
With the end of November in sight, investors are weighing whether a pullback is coming after a red-hot surge that put stocks on course for their best monthly performance in more than a year.
Confidence that US interest rates have peaked and the economy is robust have helped the benchmark S&P 500 rise over 8% in November so far. But analysts are seeing signs of the bullishness running out of steam and of potential economic softness as market gains stall.
Investors may well be treading carefully ahead of two key batches of economic data due later this week. Wednesday brings an update on GDP in the third quarter, while Thursday’s PCE reading on consumer inflation — the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge — will set expectations for policymakers’ next rate move.
The November report on consumer confidence due later Tuesday could shed more light on spending ahead of the PCE update.
Read more: What the Fed rate-hike pause means for bank accounts, CDs, loans, and credit cards
Meanwhile, investors are paying keen attention to how retailers are faring now that Black Friday has kicked off the holiday shopping season. Cyber Monday is poised to cap off a record five days of online shopping, according to Adobe data.
In retail stocks, PDD (PDD) soared 15% after the e-commerce platform owner beat Wall Street targets for quarterly revenue. Shares of buy-now-pay-later provider Affirm (AFRM) added to Monday’s 12% gain.
In commodities, oil prices gained around 1% as the dollar weakened — pulling down prices for holders of other currencies — and expectations grew for more output cuts at this week’s delayed OPEC+ meeting. Brent crude futures (BZ=F) traded above $80 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were below $76.
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