Tuesday Closing Bell: Markets Open Mixed, Close Lower

November 19, 2013: U.S. equity markets opened mixed Tuesday morning as the DJIA was the only index able to eke out a positive start. The rise in the third-quarter employment cost index came in a bit below expectations, and the increase in wages fell a tick from the second-quarter increase. That may have caused some concern about consumer spending this holiday season.

European, Asian, and Latin American markets all closed lower today.

Wednesday’s calendar includes speeches by New York Fed President William Dudley and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and the following scheduled data releases and events (all times Eastern):

• 7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
• 8:30 a.m. – Consumer price index
• 8:30 a.m. – Retail sales
• 10:00 a.m. – Business inventories
• 10:00 a.m. – Existing home sales
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
• 2:00 a.m. – FOMC minutes

Here are the closing bell levels for Tuesday:

• S&P500 1787.86 (-3.67; -0.20%)
• DJIA 15966.90 (-9.12; -0.06%)
• NASDAQ 3931.55 (-17.51; -0.44%)
• 10YR TNOTE 2.709% (-0.3125)
• Gold $1,273.5 (+1.20; +0.1%)
• WTI Crude oil $93.34 (+0.33; +0.3%)
• Euro/Dollar: 1.3538 (+0.0033; +0.24%)

Big Earnings Movers: The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) is up 0.9% at $80.39 after a solid report on earnings. Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) is down 11% at $38.79 as the company warned about competitive pricing this holiday season and lowered its margin expectations. Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) is down 5.7% at $15.26 after posting its first positive earnings report in more than a year.

Stocks on the Move: Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) is down 5.8% at $9.81 after some insider selling. Voxeljet AG (NYSE: VJET) is down 14.7% at $58.30 after jumping by a nearly equal amount yesterday.

In all, 79 NYSE stocks put up new 52-week highs today, while 40 stocks posted new lows.