U.S. stocks trended higher on Wednesday, extending gains in a week marked by two soft inflation reports.

After a surprisingly sharp drop in the Consumer Price Index on Tuesday, a similar trend emerged on Wednesday with the Producer Price Index also declining more than anticipated.

October retail sales data revealed a modest 0.1% decrease for the month, which was more favorable than the projected 0.3% fall.

Traders are nearly fully factoring in the likelihood of the Federal Reserve maintaining steady interest rates in December while anticipating four rate reductions next year.

These adjusted expectations for interest rates have sparked an upsurge in major tech stocks.

The “Magnificent Seven” group, featuring prominent tech giants like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META), NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), is now revisiting peak levels last observed toward the end of 2021.

On a positive note, the House has approved a temporary spending bill that extends government funding through mid-January.

Chart Of The Day: ‘Magnificent 7’ Tech Giants Revisit Record Peaks

Cues From Wednesday’s Trading:

The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, rising above 4,500 points. Blue-chip stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average also traded 0.3% higher, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 slightly underperformed, up 0.1%.

Small caps extended their strong weekly, with the Russell 2000 up 0.8% following a 5.4% gain on Tuesday.

US Index Performance On Wednesday

Wednesday Trading In Major US Equity ETFs

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) was 0.2% higher to $449.64.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSE:DIA) rose 0.3% to $349.62.
• The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) inched 0.1% higher to $385, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Looking at S&P 500 sector ETFs:

• The Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLB) was the outperformer, up 0.7% Wednesday.
• The Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLU) was the laggard, down 0.3%.

Upcoming Economic Data:

U.S. mortgage applications saw a 2.8% increase in the week ending Nov. 10, extending the previous week’s 2.5% upswing. The average 30-year mortgage rate held steady at 7.61%.

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Stocks In Focus:

• Alcon Inc. (NYSE:ALC) fell over 4% following the release of its quarterly results.
• Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) extended its gains and traded up nearly 2.3% after the company sent out an invite for its Cybertruck launch event.
• Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT) rocketed 16% following a strong double beat in quarterly results.
• Other companies reacting to earnings reports include Catalent, Inc. (NYSE:CTLT) (up 11%), JD.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:JD) (up about 9%) and  TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) (down about 4%).
• Those reporting after the market close include Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO), J&J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF), Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) and Sonos, Inc. (NASDAQ:SONO).

Commodities, Bonds, Other Global Equity Markets:

Crude oil fell 1%, with a barrel of WTI-grade crude trading at $77.32. The United States Oil Fund ETF (NYSE:USO) was 1% lower to $72.  

Treasury yields were higher, with the 10-year yield up by 10 basis points to 4.55% and the 30-year yield up by 9 basis points to 4.71%. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NYSE:TLT) was 1.6% lower for the day. 

The dollar rose, with the U.S. dollar index, which is tracked by the Invesco DB USD Index Bullish Fund ETF (NYSE:UUP), up 0.3%. The EUR/USD pair, which is tracked by the Invesco CurrecyShares Euro Currency Trust (NYSE:FXE), was 0.3% lower to 1.0842.

European equity indexes closed in the green. The SPDR DJ Euro STOXX 50 Etf  (NYSE:FEZ) rose 0.2%. 

Gold eased 0.1% to $1,961/oz. The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was 0.1% lower to $182. Silver rose 1.7% to $23.44, with the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) up 1.5% to $21.50. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was 2.4% higher to $36,410.

Staff writer Piero Cingari updated this report midday Friday. 

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