The stock markets in the United States fluctuated and eventually ended the trading with mixed results. Data showed that the U.S. economy grew more than expected in the third quarter, but the consumer confidence fell in November.
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The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce reported that real gross domestic product (GDP), the value of the production if goods and services increased at an annual rate of 3.9% in the third quarter.
Economists polled by Bloomberg have a median forecast 3.3% gain in the third quarter.
According to the Commerce Department, the increase in GDP reflected the positive contributions from PCE, non-residential fixed investment, federal, state and local government spending, exports and residential fixed investment.
[drizzle]On the other hand, the Consumer Board consumer confidence index dropped from 94.1% to 88.7% in November. Economist expected an increase to 96%.
Stephen Carl, principal and head equity trader at Williams Capital Group LP told Bloomberg, “Some economic number like GDP looked good, but I don’t know how sustainable they are. He added, “We need more gains and more activity to sustain that. Consumer Confidence was off modestly, and that may be a bit of a catalysts to the downside.”
U.S. Markets
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – 17,821.78 (+0.02%)
- S&P 500- 2,067.45 (-0.09%)
- NASDAQ- 4,758.25 (+0.07%)
- Russell 2000- 1,185.58 (-0.11%)
European Markets
- EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,226.15 (+0.45 %)
- FTSE 100 Index- 6,731.14 (+0.02%)
- Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 9,861.21 (+0.77%)
Asia-Pacific Markets
- Nikkei 225- 17,407.82 (+0.29%)
- Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 23.843.91 (-0.21%)
- Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 2,685.56 (+1.37%)
Stocks in Focus
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reached a record level after the company’s stock climbed as much as 1% to $119.75 per share, bringing its valuation to more than $700 billion today. The iPhone maker is already the largest company in terms of market capitalization. Apple wiped its gains and closed $117.60 per share, down by 0.86% today.
Last week, Morgan Stanley analyst, Katy Huberty said the shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has still plenty of room to grow. Over the past 12-months, stock jumped 58%.
The stock price of Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd (NYSE:QIHU) surged more than 7% after the company posted financial results the beat the consensus estimates of Wall Street analyst. Its revenue for the third quarter rose 100% to $376.4 million and not-GAAP net income increased 48% to $89.5 million.
The shares of Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE:SIG) gained almost 7% to $131.59 per share after reporting a 53% increase in sales to $1.18 billion, in line with the consensus estimate. Signet raised its full-year earnings outlook in the range of $5.51 to $5.61 per share.
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