Traders-Blog.com

Stocks closed mixed with investors awaiting an upcoming Federal Reserve decision on interest rates, as the Dow set a new closing high amid strong gains for some of its components.

Today, the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 10.97 or 0.09% to 12,127.88, closing at a fresh all-time high; its 11th closing record in 16 sessions. The broader S&P 500 index closed up 0.36 or 0.03% to 1,377.38, and the tech-fueled Nasdaq composite index closed down 10.72 or 0.46% to 2,344.84.

Market breadth was mixed. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners narrowly edged losers as 1.691 billion shares changed hands. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers three to two as 1.913 billion shares traded.

Investors are visibly concerned on how the Fed is going to word its statement and about some mixed earnings news. Fed is expected to announce it will hold its key fed-funds rate steady at 5.25%. Investors will be closely watching what the bankers hint at in their statement regarding the health of the economy, inflationary pressures and the future direction of interest-rate policy. However, the overall message is unlikely to change much from the last meeting.

Wall Street has been sprinting lately, as investors have responded to the drop in commodity prices, strong earnings and what appears to be the end of the Fed’s more than two-year rate-hiking campaign. On balance, the earnings picture is strong, the Fed is not expected to surprise us tomorrow and investors are going to try to keep moving the market higher through the end of the month.

Stock of Texas Instruments closed down $1.36 or 4.3% to $30.52, after reporting third-quarter revenue that missed Wall Street estimates and issuing a disappointing outlook for the fourth quarter. The company forecast an EPS of 40 cents to 46 cents, on revenue of $3.46 billion to $3.75 billion. This is against the expected 45 cents on revenue of $3.8 billion. Its third-quarter revenue rose to $3.76 billion from $3.59 billion, which was less than the $3.796 billion forecast by analysts.

Shares of Pfizer Inc. fell about 1.7% to $27.26 after UBS downgraded the pharmaceutical group to neutral from buy, citing a number of setbacks including the further delay in the U.S. launch of its diabetes drug Exubera, uncertainty over a FDA filing for Asenapine, a treatment for bipolar disorder, as well as pricing pressures and access challenges in the EU.

Stock of Lucent Technologies closed up $0.15 or 6.4% to $2.49, as it reported earnings that beat estimates. Lucent earned $371 million in the quarter ending Sept. 30. Revenue rose 5% to $2.56 billion from $2.43 billion in the year-ago. These results are much better than expected by analysts.

Shares of DuPont closed up $0.55 or 1.2% to $46.00, as the company reported higher quarterly earnings that topped expectations, thanks to higher sales and lower fixed costs. It posted earnings of $485 million, compared to a year-ago loss of $82 million. Revenue rose 7.5% to $6.31 billion from last year’s $5.87 billion. Analysts had expected $6.13 billion in sales.

U.S. light crude oil for December delivery added 54 cents to $59.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Traders feel that U.S. data due this week will show a third-weekly decline in distillate supplies, which include winter heating oil.

All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter
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