Closing Bell
Here's what happened on Wall Street, Wednesday, Nov. 31.It was a mixed day on Wall Street, will both the Dow and S&P closing in the green, but the Nasdaq finishing the session in the red.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher 0.25% while the S&P 500 rose 016%. The Nasdaq, however, closed lower 0.17%.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday unanimously voted to leave interest rates at existing levels, taking into account the disruptions from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and low inflation.
That said, interest-rate futures indicate a 92% chance that the U.S. central bank will raise rates 25 basis points at the mid-December meeting.
Tim Cook on Taxes
Apple ( AAPL) CEO Tim Cook thinks tax reform should have been completed years ago.The Apple head told NBC News' Lester Holt that the company understands the impact of taxes on businesses, adding that larger corporations don't bring offshore profits back to the U.S. because of taxes.
"[T]his isn't good for the U.S. There's no tax receipts there," Cook said. "And it's not good for investment in the U.S. And so this needs to be fixed. In my view, it should have been fixed years ago. But let's get it done now."
Republicans in the House of Representatives are finalizing a tax reform plan as President Donald Trumps urges for "massive tax cuts."
Fed Leaves Interest Rates Unchanged
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday unanimously voted to leave interest rates at existing levels, taking into account the disruptions from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and low inflation.That said, interest-rate futures indicate a 92% chance that the U.S. central bank will raise rates 25 basis points at the mid-December meeting.
There have been two hikes so far this year, which have taken rates to a range of 1% to 1.25%.
Thanksgiving Air-Travel to Jump 3% in 2017
An estimated 28.5 million passengers are set to travel on U.S. airlines during the 12-day Thanksgiving air-travel period, representing a 3% jump from 2016, airline trade organization Airlines for America (A4A) said Wednesday."The 2.38 million passengers per day expected to take to the skies represent an increase of 69,000 from the 2016 Thanksgiving travel period," A4A said. "Airlines are accommodating this increase in demand by adding 86,000 more seats in the marketplace each day, a 3.2 percent increase over 2016."
This year, the Thanksgiving air-travel period begins Friday, Nov. 17 and goes through Tuesday, Nov. 28. The busiest projected day is Nov. 26, when an estimated 2.88 million passengers will fly.
"Airline passengers continue to benefit from the highly competitive air-service landscape this holiday season, as low fares and increased availability of seats continue to make air travel widely accessible," said A4A Vice President and Chief Economist John Heimlich.
Apple Gets Go Ahead on Ireland Data Center
Ireland's High Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal against Apple ( AAPL) building a $1 billion data center in the country, clearing the way for its construction to proceed, Reuters reports.The judge rejected appeals from some disgruntled citizens who pushed back against the data center's construction over environmental concerns. AAPL is a holding of Action Alerts PLUS.
In 2015, Apple first announced plans to build the data center in a rural area in western Ireland.
Tuesday's Manhattan Terror Attack Sends Gun Stocks Higher
In the aftermath of Tuesday's attack in lower Manhattan, which left eight people dead and 11 people injured after a truck barreled down a popular bike path, gun stocks have been moving higher.While the driver, 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov, was not wielding actual firearms, he was displaying imitation firearms before he was shot by police.
Shares of gunmakers Sturm Ruger & Company (RGR) were climbing nearly 4% in mid-morning trading on Wednesday while shares of its counterpart American Outdoor Brands (AOBC) , the parent of Smith & Wesson, were spiking over 2.5%.
Fiat Chrysler Misses Sales Expectations for October
Fiat Chrysler ( FCAU) posted a 13% decline in October sales year-over-year, missing analysts' projections for a 10% decrease. Despite the overall drop in sales, Fiat Chrysler's Ram truck sales posted their best October on record, with a 1% gain over last year. The firm's Jeep Compass SUV also had its best October ever, with sales up 81% over last October.
GM Tops Expectations for October Sales
General Motors ( GM) reported a 2.3% decline in sales year-over-year, beating analyst expectations that sales would fall by 7.2%.The automaker's sales decline over last year was narrower-than-expected, driven in large part by robust truck sales. Pickup deliveries totaled 84,902 units, up 9% over last October.
Sales of GM's crossovers spiked 12% year-over-year, with the Chevrolet Equinox, Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia, Buick Encore and Buick Enclave posting their highest-ever October sales period.
GM's Chevrolet Bolt and Buick Encore had their best sales months ever.
Ford October U.S. Sales Up 6.2%
Ford ( F) reported total October unit sales of 200,436, representing a 6.2% increase year-over-year. The figure also topped projections for a 3.9% increase by Kelley Blue Book.Passenger car sales fell 2.4% to 43,849 units, but SUV sales jumped 5.3% to 63,339 units, and truck sales spiked 11.4% to 93,248 units.
Year-to-date, U.S. sales at Ford are lower by 2% to 2,177,269 units.
Premarket
U.S. stock futures contracts were rising ahead of the opening bell Wednesday, pointing toward a higher opening for the three major indices in trading.In Asia, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.86% to 22,420.08, while the Hang Seng was higher 1.23% and Shanghai Composite rose in Wednesday trading 0.08%.
Indices in Europe were all in the green, with the FTSE 100 in the U.K. higher 0.20%, the CAC 40 in France was rising 0.43% and DAX in Germany slightly higher -- 1.85% -- with about four hours left in trading across the Atlantic.
