Tuesday Closing Bell: Markets Stall, Waiting for Fed, Jobs Report

December 3, 2013: U.S. equity markets opened lower Tuesday morning and for the most part the day got worse from there. There was no new economic data in the U.S. today, and it could be that investors are being cautious and waiting for Friday’s report on non-farm payrolls and the U.S. unemployment rate for November. The three major indexes all closed lower today.

European and Latin American markets closed lower again today, while Asian markets again closed mixed.

Today’s reports on new car sales in November point toward another year of growth for automakers, who are on track for a seasonally adjusted sales rate of more than 16 million to close out the year.

Wednesday’s calendar includes the following scheduled data releases and events (all times Eastern):

• 7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
• 8:15 a.m. – ADP employment report
• 8:30 a.m. – International trade
• 10:00 a.m. – New home sales
• 10:00 a.m. – ISM non-manufacturing index
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
• 2:00 p.m. – Beige Book

Here are the closing bell levels for Tuesday:

• S&P500 1795.15 (-5.75; -0.32%)
• DJIA 15914.62 (-94.15; -0.59%)
• NASDAQ 4037.20 (-8.06; -0.20%)
• 10YR TNOTE 2.783% (+0.125)
• Gold $1,220.80 (-1.10; -0.1%)
• WTI Crude oil $96.04 (+2.22; +2.4%)
• Euro/Dollar: 1.3593(+0.0051; +0.38%)

Big Earnings Movers: There were no earnings of note reported today. Endurance International Group Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: EIGI) came public in late October at a price below its expected range and closed its first day of trading down even from that. Results are expected after markets close today and analysts are looking for earnings of $0.02 per share.

Stocks on the Move: Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) is up 16.5% at $144.68 following an upgrade from Morgan Stanley. Unilife Corp. (NASDAQ: UNIS) is up 16.6% at $4.84 after another drug company announced that it will use the company’s drug delivery system.

In all, 48 NYSE stocks put up new 52-week highs today, while 85 stocks posted new lows.