U.S. stock markets closed mixed on Wednesday as post-election rally shows signs of uncertainty.  A key inflation data of October was in line with expectations. Third-quarter earnings results remained strong. The Dow and the S&P 500 ended in positive territory while the Nasdaq Composite finished in negative zone.

How Did The Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.1% to close at 43,958.19. At intraday high, the blue-chip index was up more than 230 points. Notably, 18 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory while 12 in negative zone. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 19,230.72, sliding 0.3% due to weak performance by corporate giants.

The S&P 500 up 1.39 points to finish at 5,985.38. Eight out of 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index ended in positive territory while three in negative zone. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY), the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR (XLRE) and the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) advanced 0.9%, 0.8% and 0.8%, respectively.

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 6.7% to 14.02. A total of 16.49 billion shares were traded on Wednesday, higher than the last 20-session average of 13.46 billion. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 1.41-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.95-to-1 ratio favored declining issues.

October CPI In Line With Expectations

The Department of Labor reported that consumer price index (CPI) for October increased 0.2%, in line with the consensus estimate and the metric of September. Year over year, CPI increased 2.6% in October compared with 2.4% in September. In October, inflation-adjusted average hourly earnings for workers increased 0.1% month-over-month and 1.4% year-over-year.

The core CPI (excluding volatile food and energy items) for October increased 0.3%, in line with the consensus estimate and the metric of September. Year over year, CPI increased 3.3% in October, remained same with September metric. For the month of October, the three-month annualized rate for core CPI rose to 3.6% compared with 3.1% of the prior three-months. The six-month annualized rate remained same at 3.3%.

Following the release of the October CPI/core CPI data, the CME FedWatch interest rate derivative tool shows an overwhelming 83% probability that the Fed will reduce the benchmark lending rate by another 25 basis-points in December. Just a day ago, this probability was less than 60%. This means, market participants are expecting a full 1% rate cut in 2024.

Third-Quarter 2024 Earnings

Griffon Corp. GFF came out with fourth-quarter fiscal 2024 earnings of $1.47 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.21 per share. The company posted quarterly revenues of $659.67 million, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.75%.