Stocks Tick Higher as Investors Parse Retail Earnings

By Paul J. Davies and Michael Wursthorn 

Stocks drifted higher as rising shares of consumer companies and real-estate firms nudged all three major indexes to records.

Shares of Best Buy led the S&P 500 higher after the consumer-electronics retailer boosted its forecast for the holiday-shopping season and reported a solid sales gain for the previous quarter.

The optimistic tone for the final month of the year helped boost shares of several other retailers, including TJX Cos., Ulta Beauty and Home Depot.

Shares of real-estate companies added to the market's gain, with those stocks in the S&P 500 advancing 1.4%.

Incremental developments on the U.S.'s trade talks with China also brightened investors' near-term outlooks to keep the stock market moving higher. Chinese officials said Tuesday that they had reached a consensus with their U.S. counterparts on resolving certain problems, suggesting the two sides are making progress toward a phase-one deal.

Still, analysts urged investors to remain cautious. Trade headlines have sent stock indexes on a roller coaster this year, and that volatility is likely to play out further until the U.S. and China sign a deal.

"While top officials on both sides have sounded positive, potential barriers to a broad agreement remain," strategists at UBS Global Wealth Management wrote in a note to clients, pointing out that the U.S. and China still haven't set a deadline for signing a deal or determined whether to delay tariffs scheduled to take effect next month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 55.21 points, or 0.2%, to 28121.68, notching its 14th record close of the year. The S&P 500 added 6.88 points, or 0.2%, to 3140.52, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 15.44 points, or 0.2%, to 8647.93.

Best Buy shares jumped $7.32, or 9.9%, to $81.57, more than any other stock in the broad S&P 500 index, after the retailer slightly increased its targets for sales and profit for the fiscal year and disclosed plans to compete with Amazon.com this holiday-shopping season.

Shares of Hormel Foods rose after the company reported better-than-expected earnings despite missing sales forecasts. The stock gained $1.52, or 3.6%, to $44.28.

Meanwhile, a couple of disappointing profit reports weighed on the S&P 500.

Shares of Dollar Tree slid $17.13, or 15%, to $95.26 after the owner of the Dollar Tree and Family Dollar chains of discount stores lowered its earnings guidance for the year, due, in part, to the anticipated impact of tariffs on goods imported from China.

Also hobbling major indexes' advance was a pullback in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. The tech company's stock stumbled $1.48, or 8.5%, to $15.97 after it reported a bigger-than-expected decline in revenue for the most recent quarter.

Investors expect Wednesday's trading session to be subdued ahead of Thursday's market closure for Thanksgiving and Friday's shortened session.

Despite the light trading volumes, investors plan on monitoring further chatter between U.S. and Chinese officials to gauge the progress of trade talks as well as the handful of corporate earnings due Wednesday from Deere & Co. and others.

Elsewhere, the pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.1%.

The Shanghai Composite Index closed almost flat, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 0.3%.

Write to Paul J. Davies at [e-mail] and Michael Wursthorn at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 26, 2019 17:45 ET (22:45 GMT)

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