Wall St set for muted open as investors await more policy cues

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., October 27, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

• Summary
• Companies

• Retailers in focus on Cyber Monday
• Crown Castle up as Elliott pushes for changes
• Indexes down: Dow 0.15%, S&P 0.23%, Nasdaq 0.18%

Nov 27 (Reuters) – U.S. stock indexes slipped on Monday, ahead of a key inflation reading and commentary from Federal Reserve policymakers later in the week, while shares of some retailers edged higher as holiday shopping picked up steam with Cyber Monday deals.

Investors are awaiting the release of “Beige Book”, the Fed’s compendium of reports about the economy, and the personal consumption expenditure index data for October during the week, which would help give clues about the Fed’s next rate decision.

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Wall Street ended the Thanksgiving week on a positive note, with the major indexes notching up their fourth consecutive week of gains on growing optimism that the Federal Reserve was likely done hiking interest rates.

The rebound in equities in November has brought the S&P 500 (.SPX) close to its highest intra-day level this year.

“What we’re seeing is just a little bit of hesitancy as the market prepares for a heavy reporting calendar week,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.

“We are headed for a mixed session today…maybe something like profit taking at the beginning and then just a leveling off.” U.S. retailers were on the radar after Black Friday and as Cyber Monday kicks off with shoppers looking for steep discounts expected to spend a record $12 billion to $12.4 billion.

Shares of Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and Walmart (WMT.N) edged up 1.0% and 0.4%, respectively.

The S&P 500 retail sector (.SPXRT), housing Amazon, rose 0.5%.

The focus will also be on a host of Fed officials due to speak at different conferences this week, with Chair Jerome Powell expected to participate in a fireside chat on Friday. Traders have priced in the possibility of a pause in rate hikes in December, and see an about 55% chance of a rate cut of at least 25-basis points in May 2024, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.

Weighing on sentiment, latest data showed profits at China’s industrial firms grew at a slower pace, indicating the need for more policy support measures to help shore up growth in the world’s second-largest economy.

The CBOE Volatility index (.VIX), known as Wall Street’s fear gauge, was up 0.47 points at 12.93 after plunging to its lowest since just before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 last week. At 9:44 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) was down 51.61 points, or 0.15%, at 35,338.54, the S&P 500 (.SPX) was down 10.56 points, or 0.23%, at 4,548.78, and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) was down 25.34 points, or 0.18%, at 14,225.51.

Among other stocks, Crown Castle International (CCI.N) added 4.3% as activist investor Elliott Investment Management, also a major shareholder, sought executive and board changes at the wireless tower owner

GE HealthCare (GEHC.O) lost 4.0% after UBS downgraded the medical devices maker to “sell” from “neutral”. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 2.76-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 2.25-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 7 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 34 new highs and 18 new lows.

Reporting by Shristi Achar A and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Shinjini Ganguli

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