US STOCKS-Wall Street unchanged after weak retail sales data

Chegg

18/06/2024 20:04

* 
      U.S. retail sales rise less than expected in May
    

        * 
      Lennar drops as home delivery forecast disappoints
    

        * 
      Citigroup hikes S&P 500 year-end target to 5,600 points
    

        * 
      Indexes: Dow up 0.04%, S&P up 0.18%, Nasdaq flat
    

  
 (As of 2:51 pm EDT)
    By Echo Wang
       June 18 (Reuters) - 
    Wall Street's main indexes were barely changed on Tuesday in
subdued pre-holiday trading as investors focused on
softer-than-expected U.S. retail sales data.
        "The most important item in the market today is the soft
retail sales," said Jim Awad, senior managing director at
Clearstead Advisors LLC in New York. "Markets are trying to
digest today's numbers."
  
    Retail sales rose 0.1% in May, versus the 0.3% growth
forecast by economists polled by Reuters, while another report
showed surprisingly strong May industrial production and
manufacturing output.
    Following the news, markets slightly increased bets on two
Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year, LSEG's FedWatch
showed, despite U.S. central bankers' most recent projections
for just one easing.
        Nvidia  NVDA.O  overtook Microsoft  MSFT.O  to become
the world's most valuable company, with its shares climbing 3.2%
to $135.21. 
        Other chip stocks also extended their recent rally,
boosting the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index  .SOX  to a
record high.      
    Qualcomm  QCOM.O , Arm Holdings  ARM.O  and Micron  MU.O 
were up between 2.5% and 8.0%, with Micron hitting a record
high.
    The Nasdaq remained flat following six consecutive record
closing highs, with losses in Alphabet  GOOGL.O , Amazon
 AMZN.O  and Meta Platforms  META.O  offsetting chip stock
gains.
    Technology  .SPLRCT  was the top S&P 500 sector gainer, up
0.6%, while communication services  .SPLRCL  led declines.
    Investors remained focused on comments from Fed officials
throughout the day. New York Fed President John Williams said
rates will come down gradually over time, while Richmond Fed's
Thomas Barkin said he required more months of economic data
before supporting a rate cut.
        Some market observers noted nothing surprising emerged.
"That's why the markets stay unchanged today," Awad said.
  
        U.S. markets will be closed on Wednesday for the
Juneteenth holiday.
  
    Hopes for multiple rate cuts this year, excitement for
AI-related companies and robust earnings from other tech firms
have bolstered equities in recent months, with gains
concentrated in a few heavily weighted stocks.
    
    
    Citigroup raised the year-end target for the S&P 500  .SPX 
to 5,600 points from 5,100.
        At 02:51 p.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average  .DJI 
rose 17.37 points, or 0.04%, to 38,795.54. The S&P 500  .SPX 
edged up 9.72 points, or 0.18%, to 5,483.08 and the Nasdaq
Composite  .IXIC  gained 0.40 points, or 0.00%, at 17,857.05. 
  
    Edtech company Chegg  CHGG.N  jumped 10.9% after announcing
job cuts in a restructuring.
    Homebuilder Lennar  LEN.N  fell 4.9% after forecasting
lower-than-expected third-quarter home deliveries.
        Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.86-to-1
ratio on the NYSE, which had 220 new highs and 76 new lows.
  
        The S&P 500 posted 48 new 52-week highs and six new lows
while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 58 new highs and 168 new
lows.
  

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Tech stocks power Wall Street gains    https://tmsnrt.rs/4b2zugY
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 (Reporting by Echo Wang in New York; Additional reporting by
Lisa Mattackal and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by
Shounak Dasgupta, Maju Samuel and Richard Chang)
 ((e.wang@thomsonreuters.com))