Dow slides as S&P 500, Nasdaq bounce back from losses after Russia-Ukraine tensions rattle markets

Yahoo Finance’s Ines Ferré reports:

Gold futures (GC=F) hovered at a one-week high to trade near $2,630 per ounce on Tuesday as traders assessed the threat of a nuclear escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war.

The precious metal extended its gains from Monday as investors flocked to the asset traditionally seen as a safe haven during times of geopolitical uncertainty.

On Tuesday Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a revised nuclear doctrine, which formally lowered the threshold for Russia’s use of its nuclear weapons. The move followed a decision by the Biden administration to allow Ukraine’s use of long range US-made missiles to strike deep into Russia.

“Geopolitical risks have reemerged, driving demand for gold and solidifying its role as a reliable hedging asset,” Ahmad Assiri, research strategist at foreign exchange broker Pepperstone, said in a note on Tuesday.

Gold had been on a tear up until the US elections on Nov. 5. It has since fallen as the US dollar (DX-Y.NYB) strengthened. Still, the precious metal is up about 27% year-to-date, beating the S&P 500’s (^GSPC) gain of 23% over the same period as central banks have boosted their gold reserves.

Read more here.

It was a tale of two retailers this morning … Yahoo Finance’s Brooke DiPalma reports:

Walmart (WMT), the world’s biggest retailer, posted fiscal third quarter results that easily beat Wall Street expectations as inflation-weary shoppers continue to search for value. The stock popped over 3%.

Sales of $169.59 billion topped analyst estimates for $167.5 billion. Adjusted earnings per share eclipsed estimates by 5 cents at $0.58.

The company also raised its guidance for fiscal year 2025 for the third time.

Read more here.

Lowe’s (LOW) stock fell nearly 5% shortly after the opening bell as investors honed in on continued negative sales growth, despite results that beat the Street’s estimates.

The home improvement retailer posted revenue of $20.17 billion, compared to estimates of $19.93 billion. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.89, versus the $2.82 expected.

Same-store sales fell 1.1%, less than the 2.7% decline anticipated. The company alluded to ongoing softness in the “DIY bigger-ticker discretionary demand,” which was offset by hurricane-related recovery efforts following Hurricanes Helene and Milton and positive same-store sales in its Pro business and online.

Read more here.

Housing starts fell in October, pressured by a drop in single-family construction.

Data from the Census Bureau showed housing starts dropped 3.1% in October to an annual rate of 1.311 million units. Meanwhile, single-family housing starts slipped 6.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 970,000 units, unchanged from a year ago.

The decline came as mortgage rates have been climbing, with the average 30-year fixed loan hovering around 6.7%. Rates on a home loan tend to follow US Treasury yields, which have been rising since mid-September partly due to investor anticipation of Trump’s victory and his proposed policies around taxes and tariffs.

Higher rates also likely discouraged builders from filing building permits during the month.

Contract permits for single family dwellings fell to a pace of 968,000, a 0.5% drop from September’s revised figure of 963,000.

“Major storms likely stalled the beginnings of some residential projects, causing a steep decline in construction in the southeast,” Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, wrote after the release.

“Both housing starts and building permits declined in October as several homebuilders appeared to hold back the start of projects until after the election. However, more recent surveys showed a rebound in homebuilder confidence.”

US stocks fell at the open on Tuesday after President Vladimir Putin signed a revised nuclear doctrine, allowing Russia to expand its use of atomic weapons in a possible escalation of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) led the declines, down about 0.8%. The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) slid roughly 0.5% to fall below its election breakout level, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) also dropped around 0.5% on the heels of a mixed day for the major gauges.

Super Micro Computer (SMCI), an AI server maker and Nvidia (NVDA) partner, soared over 25% premarket Tuesday. The sprint higher came after the company on Monday submitted a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission saying that it’s supplied a compliance plan with the Nasdaq to avoid delisting.

Also boosting the stock, Super Micro said it’s hired a new auditor, BDO, after its prior accountant, Ernst & Young, resigned in late October.

The company was in hot water with the Nasdaq after delaying both its annual and quarterly filings to the SEC following a scathing report from short-selling firm Hindenburg Research. The report shed light on potential accounting malpractices, violations of export controls, and shady relationships between top executives and Super Micro partners. The company is reportedly being investigated by the Department of Justice.

Even with this week’s surge, shares have tumbled roughly 56% over the past three months. After gaining as much as 300% earlier this year, SMCI stock is now down over 20% in 2024.

Read the full story here.

Walmart (WMT) has worked very diligently behind the scenes the past two years to be a major player online. The retailer has expanded its assortment online and has fine-tuned its “buy online, pick up in store” functionality — among other initiatives.

The efforts continue to show up on earnings days.

Here are the company’s e-commerce results by division for the third quarter reported this morning:

These results are eye-popping for two reasons: 1) Walmart isn’t exactly a startup; 2) the competition online is as fierce as ever.

I am talking to Walmart CFO John David Rainey live at 9:15 a.m. ET on Yahoo Finance. Rest assured, we will ask him about these online sales numbers!

Hat tip to Goldman Sachs’s chief US equity strategist David Kostin for calling out specific stocks in his 2025 outlook piece that just dropped.

So often these year-end works of art from investment bank strategists simply serve up S&P 500 (^GSPC) targets, with various underlying scenarios explained. But usually, no stock predictions.

Kostin is calling out another year of strong performance for the Mag 7 trade, just not as hot as recent years.

Says Kostin:

It’s a good point by Kostin, and comes in the face of all these Mag 7 stocks trading at rich multiples on hearty outlooks for profit growth. There is only so far you can push a stock price using reasonable future financial assumptions!

You can toil around on Mag 7 valuations on Yahoo Finance’s new stock comparison tool here.

As I noted on Monday in our blog, expectations on Nvidia’s (NVDA) earnings and outlook are very robust … to say the very least.

If there is one thing that could trip up the bullish trade the morning after earnings, it’s Nvidia’s guidance. While it will likely be above consensus, it may not be above consensus enough given the dynamics around Blackwell chip demand. Nvidia could opt to go stronger with guidance when it reports three months from now or so.

Important point on this from Stifel analyst Ruben Roy this morning in a note: