Daily Insights
Drifting higher. U.S. stocks are drifting higher once again this morning, with the S&P 500 Index poised for its third straight record high close. Risk sentiment has improved recently amid a new batch of optimistic trade headlines, and the absence of other market-moving news around the globe. We expect financial markets to take more cues from headlines in this holiday week as volume tapers off. As a reminder, U.S. stock and bond markets will be closed all day Thursday, and will close early on Friday in observance of Thanksgiving.
GDP revised higher. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew 2.1% in the third quarter, 20 basis points (0.2%) higher than what was initially reported, according to revised data. Inventories contributed 0.2% to GDP growth in the quarter, noticeably higher than the 0.05% drag in the initial GDP report. Other GDP components were largely unchanged from the first report, and consumer spending still accounted for most of third-quarter output growth. Quarterly GDP growth has averaged 2.4% so far in 2019, higher than the 2.3% average GDP change in this economic cycle.
Giving thanks for the consumer. This Thanksgiving, we’re thankful for solid consumer confidence, even though it has wavered in recent months. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index fell for a fourth straight month in November, according to preliminary data, but the index is still elevated compared to history. We’ll dig into the latest consumer confidence report today on the LPL Research blog.
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