On Wednesday, key US stock market indexes closed mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.03%, the S&P 500 gained 0.23%, and the NASDAQ added 0.44%.
US economic growth in the previous quarter slowed down to 2.1% - the lowest rate since the beginning of the pandemic. Economists forecasted the US economy to grow by 2.2%. The US GDP rose by 6.7% year-on-year in the second quarter.
Weekly jobless claims fell by 71,000, reaching 199,000 - the lowest total in 50 years. New filings were projected to decrease to 260,000.
Personal income in October grew by 0.5% compared to September, while household spending increased by 1.3%. Economists expected a rise of 0.2% and 1% respectively.
New home sales in the US inched higher by 0.4% to 745,000 in November, compared to 742,000 in the previous month. The amount of sales was forecasted to remain steady. Sales in September were originally estimated at 800,000.
The UoM consumer sentiment index fell to 67.4 points in November, compared to 71.7 points in October, reaching the lowest mark in 10 years. Economists expected the index to decrease to 66.9 points.
The latest Fed meeting minutes indicated the Federal Reverse is concerned about the highest inflation in 30 years. If prices rise further, the Fed would be forced to hike interest rates and reduce asset purchases.
On the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the best performers were Visa Inc. Class A shares (+2.40%), Intel Corp. (+1.34%), and Home Depot Inc. (+0.92%). The worst performing stocks were The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (-1.76%), Honeywell International Inc. (-1.75%), and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (-1.62%).
On the S&P 500, HP Inc. (+10.10%), Deere & Co. (+5.32%), and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (+5.26%) led the upside, with Nordstrom Inc. (-29.03%), Gap Inc. (-24.12%), and Autodesk Inc. (- 15.49%) being the worst performers.
Shares of HP Inc. gained 10.1% amid rising revenues in the fourth quarter. Thanks to increased computer sales, the company's revenues increased by 9% year over year.
Shares of Gap Inc. slumped by 24.1%, due to falling revenue caused by product delays. The retailer's revenue fell by 1% in the third quarter.
On the NASDAQ, the best performers of the session were Longeveron LLC (+145.64%), Biofrontera Inc. (+98.48%) and IM Cannabis Corp. (+37.82%). The worst performing stocks were Qualigen Therapeutics Inc. (-31.64%), Aptevo Therapeutics Inc. (-29.83%), and Pasithea Therapeutics Corp. (-28.75%).
Shares of Westlake Chemical went up by 2.4% on the news of its acquisition of Hexion Inc.'s epoxy production division for $1.2 billion.
Dell Technologies Inc. stock rose by 4.8% after the company reported strong earnings in the third quarter, driven by high demand for Dell's products.
Shares of Apple Inc. added 0.3% amid the corporation's lawsuit against the Israeli cyber firm NSO Group. Apple alleges that NSO Group's hacking tool Pegasus was used to attack Apple customers.
Verizon Communications stock lost 0.2% on the news of the company's $6.25 billion acquisition of TracFone Wireless Inc.
