Wall Street stocks were mixed early on Tuesday as rising international Covid-19 cases remained in focus ahead of the Thanksgiving break.
As of 1520 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.10% at 35,654.15, while the S&P 500 was 0.10% weaker at 4,678.22 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.53% softer at 15,770.78.
The Dow opened 34.90 points higher on Tuesday, adding to modest gains recorded in the previous session as market participants monitored rising Covid-19 cases across Europe and rising bond yields fuelled a tech sell-off.
Trading was expected to be somewhat slow on Tuesday given the Thanksgiving holiday-shortened week. However, traders were still digesting a number of earnings reports and the odd data point.
On the macro front, a flash reading of IHS Markit’s November manufacturing PMI revealed that business activity growth slowed down a touch in November but still increased month-on-month, coming in bang on estimates at 59.1, up from 58.4 a month ago, as labour and raw material shortages weighed on production.
Elsewhere, the Richmond Federal Reserve’s November manufacturing index inched down from 12 in October to 11 but remained in expansionary territory but all three component indexes continued to reflect growth.
In the corporate space, Abercrombie & Fitch posted a 10% year-on-year improvement in quarterly net sales on strong in-store sales, while American Eagle Outfitters said both sales and inventory levels had increased ahead of the all-important holiday trading season.
Shares in US electronics retailer Best Buy fell sharply on Tuesday despite the retailer reporting net earnings of $499.0m, or $2.00 per share, for the 13 weeks to 30 October, a year-on-year improvement that came in ahead of expectations, while Dollar Tree quarterly sales topped expectations as the discount retailer stated it would move to a $1.25 price point across all its stores.
Still to come, GAP, Nordstrom, Dell Technologies and HP will report after the close.
Investors were also still firmly focussed on international Covid-19 woes after German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that the European nation was now experiencing a spike in new cases.
