- Stocks climbed Tuesday, fronted by the consumer discretionary sector.
- Stocks rose after October retail sales increased by 1.7%, outstripping expectations.
- Retail sales strength suggests consumers have started holiday shopping, says Barclays.
US stocks finished higher Tuesday as a rise in monthly retail sales suggests consumers in the world's largest economy have been coping relatively well with price jumps for goods and services and a supply-chain crunch hurting numerous industries.
The S&P 500 narrowly missed a closing record, led higher by the consumer discretionary stocks during the session. The sector is the top-performing so far this month even as consumer price inflation sits at a 31-year high. Home Depot popped Tuesday as third-quarter earnings and sales for the home improvement retailer topped expectations. Walmart also beat quarterly expectations but the stock ended the day lower.
Here's where US indexes stood at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday:
- S&P 500: 4,700.95, up 0.39%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 36,142.22, up 0.15% (54.77)
- Nasdaq Composite: 15,973.86, up 0.76%
Stocks found support from government data showing retail sales rose 1.7% last month, better than the 1.1% rise expected in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The report also showed consumer spending picking up from September's pace.
"In our view, a part of the jump in October sales likely reflects a pull-forward in holiday shopping, especially in light of reports of shipment delays. That said, the steady uptick in sales over the past three months suggests a broader improvement in final sales and consumption spending," Pooja Sriram, an economist covering the US at Barclays, said in a note.
Meanwhile, industrial production rebounded in October, rising by 1.6% in October.
Around the markets, gold swung lower, down 0.6% to $1,850.22 per ounce. The 10-year yield rose to 1.635%.
Oil prices were mixed. West Texas Intermediate crude fractionally at $80.86 per barrel. Brent, oil's international benchmark, picked up 0.6% to $82.57.
Bitcoin fell by 6.5% to $59,569.59.
