Stocks were little changed Monday as Wall Street looks to build on four straight positive weeks for the equity market. The S&P 500 fell 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped more than 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 66 points, or 0.2%. Wall Street is coming off the fourth straight winning week for all three major averages, as stocks have rallied since the 10-year Treasury yield retreated from the 5% mark it briefly topped in late October.
The rally has come despite warnings from some U.S. retailers that consumer spending is weakening, although Black Friday e-commerce spending jumped 7.5% from a year earlier. Some e-commerce stocks rose on Cyber Monday, with shares of Amazon and Shopify jumping 1.3% and 4%, respectively. Weak spending data could suggest that the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes are finally starting to weigh on the broader economy. “The New York Fed’s latest household survey shows that a record-high share of consumers are saying that it is much harder to obtain credit … This is what the textbook would have predicted. When the Fed raises interest rates it becomes more difficult for consumers to borrow,” Torsten Slok, Apollo Global Management chief economist, said in a note to clients Sunday. The week ahead is also a busy one for economic indicators and Fed commentary. On Monday, new home sales data due out. Readings for consumer confidence and inflation follow later in the week. U.S. Treasury yields held steady as markets reopened after Friday’s shortened trading day and investors awaited economic data that could affect the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was more than 1 basis point lower at 4.468%. The yield on the 2-year Treasury was last down by 1 basis point at 4.946%. Asia-Pacific stocks fell on Monday as the Chinese market dropped due to a decline in property firms, while Japan’s service inflation surged to a 45-month high. Data showed Japan’s service PPI rose 2.3% in October to its highest level since January 2020 and more than the prior month’s reading of 2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index pared much of its falls by the final hour of trading to dip 0.12%, while mainland Chinese markets closed in negative territory, with the CSI 300 index falling 0.74% to 3,511.94. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.76% lower at 6,987.60. Japan’s Nikkei 225 also slipped 0.53%, closing at 33,447.67 and moving away from its 33-year high of 33,753.33 on July 3. The Topix, meanwhile, shed 0.38%, ending the day at 2,381.76. South Korea’s Kospi dipped marginally to end at 2,495.66, while the small-cap Kosdaq was down 0.58% at 810.25. Oil prices slipped on Monday as investors waited for an OPEC+ meeting later this week for an agreement expected to curb supplies into 2024. Brent crude futures fell 40 cents, or .5%, to $80.13 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $75.16 a barrel, down 34 cents, or .45%. Gold prices hit a more than six-month high on Monday, firming above the $2,000 per ounce level, as a weaker dollar and expectations of an end to U.S. interest rate hikes lifted demand. Spot gold was up 0.6% at $2,013.99 per ounce by 1311 GMT, after reaching its highest since May 16. U.S. gold futures also rose 0.6% to $2,015.00. The dollar eased 0.2% against a basket of major currencies, hovering around a more than two-month low touched last week and making gold less expensive for holders of other currencies.