US stocks mixed; Powell speech eyed for rates guidance

© Reuters.

Investing.com — U.S. stocks traded in a muted fashion Friday, as investors took a breath after a stellar November, ahead of comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

By 09:45 ET (14:45 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 20 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P 500 traded 4 points, or 0.1%, lower and the NASDAQ Composite dropped 40 points, or 0.3%.

The main Wall Street indices posted strong gains last month, largely on hopes that the Federal Reserve’s tightening cycle may be over. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite registered their biggest monthly percentage increases since July 2022, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared to its best month since October 2022.

Powell set to speak

Further evidence of cooling U.S. inflation came in the form of the eagerly awaited personal consumption expenditures price index, which rose 3% in October from a year ago, according to data released on Thursday, falling from 3.4% the previous month.

This index is widely seen as the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of inflation, and although the reading was still above the Fed’s 2% target, the trajectory is clearly lower.

Investors will pay close attention to comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who is slated to participate in two separate discussions on Friday, as they seek clues of the central bank’s rate outlook going into the new year.

Disney reinstates its dividend

In corporate news,Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock fell 2.6% after the electric-vehicle manufacturer revealed a starting price of nearly $61,000 for its highly-anticipated Cybertruck, more than had previously been expected.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) stock fell 0.5% despite announcing the reinstatement of its dividend, as the entertainment giant turned down the request of Trian Fund Management, led by activist investor Nelson Peltz, for board representation.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) are reportedly in early discussions to bundle their streaming services at a discounted rate.

Oil gains after OPEC-induced losses

Oil prices edged higher Friday, bouncing after the previous session’s sharp losses as the voluntary oil output cuts agreed by OPEC+ producers fell short of expectations.

By 09:45 ET, the U.S. crude futures traded 0.3% higher at $76.18 a barrel, while the Brent contract climbed 0.2% to $80.98 a barrel. Both contracts lost over 6% each in November.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, a group known as OPEC+, agreed to a voluntary output reduction of 900,000 barrels per day in addition to extending 1.3 million barrels per day in production cuts already in place. 

While the new cuts are still set to negate a crude oil surplus in the first quarter of 2024, supplies will be less tight than initially anticipated.

Additionally, gold futures rose slightky to $2,036.40/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.3% lower at 1.0851.

(Oliver Gray contributed to this item.)