US equity majors fell slightly on Tuesday after the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit record highs in the previous session.
Investors will be focusing on key US labour data, scheduled to be released later this week, and also monitoring comments from the Federal Reserve officials.
October’s job opening and labour turnover survey report is scheduled to be released later on Tuesday.
The much anticipated US non-farm payrolls data will be released on Friday, which is a crucial metric in gauging the Fed’s interest rate trajectory.
At the time of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.3%, while the S&P 500 index fell a little over 0.1% from the previous close.
The Nasdaq Composite was little changed from the previous session.
Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record highs on Monday, adding to their strong postelection gains.
Since November 5, the S&P 500 has climbed 4.6%, and the Nasdaq has rallied 5.2%. The Dow is up 6% since then, and is trading near the key 45,000 level.
David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation, said:
Overall, the recent price action has slowed to a steady grind higher. This follows the explosive rally across all the majors in November, triggered by Trump’s election victory, and led by the domestically-focused, mid-cap Russell 2000.
This week’s key economic data will be released ahead of the much anticipated US Fed policy meeting on December 17 and 18.
US Steel sinks
Shares of US Steel sank more than 7% on Tuesday after the US President-elect Donald Trump opposed Nippon Steel’s planned purchase of the company.
“I am totally against the once great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company, in this case Nippon Steel of Japan,” Trump wrote on his social-media platform Truth Social.
“I will block this deal from happening. Buyer Beware!!!”
Nippon Steel, however, hopes to close the deal before Trump assumes office as President.
The company also faces opposition from the incumbent President Joe Biden and a strong US labour union.
Meanwhile, Live Nation fell 2% after the concert promoter launched an offering of $1 billion in convertible senior notes.
Credo Technology Group jumps
Shares of the tech company jumped 32% after it posted positive earnings results.
The earnings results topped estimates of analysts for the second fiscal quarter.
Adjusted earnings came in at 7 cents per share on $72 million in revenue. Analysts at LSEG had estimated earnings of 5 cents per share on revenue of $67 million.
Super Micro Computers extends gains
Share of the artificial intelligence server maker soared 8% on Tuesday.
The stock added to its astronomical rise on Monday, when shares had surged by 29%.
Sharess rose on Monday after a special committee said it found no evidence of misconduct in its business,
It also said there was no evidence for “any substantial concerns about the integrity of Supermicro’s senior management or Audit Committee, or their commitment to ensuring that the Company’s financial statements are materially accurate.”
Bernstein downgrades FedEx
Bernstein said FedEx’s looming decision on potentially spinning off its less-than-truckload business could weigh on the stock, according to a CNBC report.
The firm lowered the rating for the company to market perform from outperform earlier.
It also lowered its price target to $316 per share from $337 per share.
“Longer-term we still see value in the stock, but adding at these levels ahead of increasing execution, event, and policy risk seems difficult to defend,” analyst David Vernon was quoted by CNBC.
We’re taking a tactical pause and lowering our rating ahead of a widely expected reset in the near-term guidance framework / uncertainty around meeting high LTL freight spinoff expectations.
At the time of writing, shares of FedEx was down nearly 3% from the previous close.
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