Stock Market News For November 23, 2016

Rising expectations from Donald Trump’s policy proposals and encouraging housing data led the benchmarks to close in positive territory on Tuesday. All the three key U.S. indexes finished at record high levels for the second consecutive session. Both the Dow and S&P 500 moved past the respective psychological levels of 19,000 and 2,200. Moreover, retailers registered stable gains ahead of the holiday shopping season.

For a look at the issues currently facing the markets, make sure to read today’s Ahead of Wall Street article.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) increased 0.4%, to close at 19,023.87. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% to close at 2,202.94. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 5,386.35, gaining 0.3%. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell 0.1% to settle at 12.41. A total of around 7.3 billion shares were traded on Tuesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 8.1 billion shares. Advancers outpaced declining stocks on the NYSE. For 68% stocks that advanced, 29% declined.

What Boosted the Benchmarks?

Markets moved up following continued expectations that Donald Trump will adopt new policies including, expansionary infrastructure spending, environmental and financial deregulation and tax cuts. Moreover, Trump said yesterday that bilateral trade deals will be negotiated in order to “bring jobs and industry back onto American shores."

President-elect Trump’s latest policy agenda and rising Fed rate hike possibilities had a positive impact on investor sentiment. Additionally, retail companies are expected to gain ahead of the holiday season starting with Thanksgiving Day.

Further, shares of Dollar Tree Inc (NASDAQ:DLTR). (DLTR) jumped 8.2% after its fiscal third-quarter earnings of 81 cents per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 79 cents and climbed 65.3% year-over-year. (Read More: Dollar Tree Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates, Stock Up )

Strong shopping season and gains in Dollar Tree led the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) to rise 1.2% and become one of the best performers among the S&P 500. Some of its key holdings including, Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Inc. (AMZN) and Home Depot (NYSE:HD), Inc. (HD) rose 0.7% and 2.2%, respectively. Both the companies possess a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here .

According to the National Association of Realtors, existing homes sales rose 2% in October from September to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.60 million, to reach the highest annualized rate in more than nine years. Sales of previously owned homes also came higher than the consensus estimate of 5.43 million.

Increase in existing home sales led the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR (XLRE) to advance 1.7% and become the biggest gainer among the S&P 500. Key holdings from this sector including Simon Property Group Inc (NYSE:SPG). (SPG) and American Tower Corporation ( AMT) increased 1.1% and 2%, respectively.

Stocks That Made Headlines

HP Inc. Q4 Earnings Match Estimates, Revenues Beat

HP Inc. (HPQ) released its fourth-quarter fiscal 2016 earnings yesterday, after its split from Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ). (Read More)

Hewlett Packard Q4 Earnings In Line, Revenues Lag

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE) reported modest results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016 wherein its bottom line matched the Zacks Consensus Estimate but the top line missed the same. ( Read More)

Tech Data Q3 Earnings & Revenues Top Estimates

Tech Data Corp. (TECD) reported third-quarter fiscal 2017 results wherein both non-GAAP earnings per share and revenues topped the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate. ( Read More)

GameStop (NYSE:GME) Q3 Earnings Beat, Sales Miss; View Intact

GameStop Corp. (GME) came up with the fourth straight quarter of positive earnings surprise, as it reported third-quarter fiscal 2016 results. ( Read More)

Citi Trends Incurs Loss in Q3; Stock Plunges 8.3%

Citi Trends Inc. (CTRN) reported lower-than-expected results for third-quarter fiscal 2016, leading shares of the company to tumble 8.3% during yesterday’s trading session. ( Read More)

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