Stocks rallied on Tuesday, as the S&P 500 came within 1% of its all-time closing high.
Treasury yields also jumped, and crude oil also rose sharply ahead of inventory data. Gold fell for a fourth straight day and recorded its longest losing streak since September 25.
First, the scoreboard:
- Dow: 17,940.43, +111.67, (0.63%)
- S&P 500: 2,112.01, +7.96, (0.38%)
- Nasdaq: 5,149.89, +22.75, (0.44%)
And now, Tuesday's top stories:
- Treasuries fell in trading, as yields in some securities made pretty big strides higher. The benchmark 10-year yield rose to about 2.23%, the highest level since mid-September. And the 6-month bill yield jumped to its previous intraday record of 0.448% (last hit in September 2012). These moves higher come amid debate about the growing possibility of an interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve in December, according to Tradeweb.
- US auto sales did not disappoint. According to Autodata, sales in October rose at an annualized pace of 18.24 million, beating the forecast for 17.7 million. That left auto sales at the highest levels in a decade. Barclays economists wrote, "While we anticipate a pullback in the pace of sales in October, we expect motor vehicle sales activity will remain a primary contributor to overall consumer spending growth in Q4, boosted by solid income growth, elevated consumer confidence and attractive consumer financing."
- Crude oil surged. West Texas Intermediate crude futures in New York rose more than 4% to as high as $48.35 per barrel, a four-week peak. Reuters noted that US gasoline and diesel futures were also higher, by about 6% and 5% respectively. Data on US oil inventories from the American Petroleum Institute and the Energy Information Administration are due this evening and tomorrow morning. Analysts estimate stockpiles rose by 2.7 million barrels last week, according to Reuters.
- GoPro got slammed with a patent-infringment lawsuit. C&A Marketing, the company that holds exclusive rights to Polaroid's instant- and action-product categories, went to court over GoPro's new, tiny Hero4 session camera. The company is asking the court to award it all of GoPro's sales on the product, and its attorney fees. Morgan Stanley analysts thought demand for the small camera was lukewarm. GoPro shares fell by about 2% in trading.
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