Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on November 02, 2023 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
The S&P 500 rose for an eighth consecutive day on Wednesday, extending its longest win streak in two years.
The broad market index added 0.1% to finish at 4,382.78 and match an eight-day string of gains it notched in November 2021. The Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.08% to end at 13,650.41 — a ninth positive day and its longest string of gains in two years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 40.33 points, or 0.12%, to close at 34,112.27 and snap its best win streak since July.
“The market is starting to set up for the Fed moving to the sidelines, and we may get a soft landing,” said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise. “Equities were really oversold for the last couple of months, and they’re finally seeing a little bit of a rebound.”
While upcoming inflation and economic prints will likely factor into equity gains from here, data continues to signal that the economy is slowing but not falling off a cliff, he added.
In other news, the tail end of earnings season pressed on. Rivian slipped 2.4% even after posting better-than-expected results, while Robinhood sank 14.3% a day after it posted significant declines in trading volumes. Warner Bros. Discovery sank 19% for its worst day since March 2021, after reporting a wider-than-expected loss. Roblox popped 11.8% on strong results.
With Wednesday’s gains, the S&P is up 4.5% for November, while the Nasdaq has jumped 6.2%. The Dow is up 3.2% for the month.
These gains come as earnings season winds down. About 88% of companies in the broad-based index have posted results, with more than 88% beating earnings estimates. Slowing demand, however, has translated to only 62% topping revenue expectations, with some companies offering cautious outlooks. The season continues after the bell with results from Walt Disney, Affirm Holdings and MGM Resorts.
Wall Street is also looking ahead to upcoming commentary from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. This, coupled with the earnings picture, and next week’s consumer price index, could serve as the next major catalysts for equities, said AXS Investments CEO Greg Bassuk.
“Those are all positive points of data for the Fed, with respect to its desire to get inflation closer to that 2% level,” he said.