Earnings Wrap for Wednesday, November 23

The three major U.S. equity indexes closed higher Tuesday. The Dow added 1.18%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 1.36%, and the Nasdaq Composite also rose 1.36%. All 11 sectors closed higher, with energy (3.18%) and materials (2.23%) leading the way. Real estate (0.46%) and consumer staples (0.72%) posted the smallest gains.

The Fed Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes will be published this afternoon, and Fed watchers will be searching for clues to the size of a possible interest-rate hike at the December meeting. The weekly report on claims for unemployment benefits showed that new claims rose by 17,000 from an upwardly revised total of 223,000 in the prior week to 240,000. Continuing claims rose by 5,500 to 1.551 million. Later this morning, the monthly report on new home sales is due and is expected to show a decline in new home sales from 603,000 in September to 578,000 in October.

The three major indexes traded higher in Wednesday’s premarket session.

After U.S. markets closed Monday afternoon, Nordstrom reported better-than-expected earnings per share (EPS) on revenue that exceed the consensus estimate. The department store reaffirmed guidance for the fiscal year ending in January, but analysts and investors were looking for more. The stock traded down by about 8.2% in Wednesday’s premarket.

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