# Dow set to pull back slightly from 30,000 ahead of Thanksgiving holiday

How are stock benchmarks faring?

• Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average
  YM00,
  -0.22%
  were off 28 points to reach 29,969, a decline of about 0.1%.

• S&P 500 index futures
  ES00,
  -0.13%
  were up 2.70 point at 3,634.50, up less than 0.1%

• Nasdaq-100 futures
  NQ00,
  +0.17%
  were up 41.25 points, or 0.3%, at 12,117.25.

On Tuesday, the Dow, S&P 500 and Russell 2000 index all closed at records.

• The Dow
  DJIA,
  +1.53%
  rose 454.97 points, or 1.5%, at 30,046.24, its first-ever finish at a milestone above 30,000.

• The S&P 500 index
  SPX,
  +1.61%
  gained 57.82 points, or 1.5%, to trade at 3,635.41.

• The Nasdaq Composite Index
  COMP,
  +1.31%
  rose 156.15 points, or 1.3%, to 12,036.79.

What’s driving the market?

After a record-setting day Tuesday, investors are preparing for a deluge of U.S. economic reports that could help to provide a fresh spark in a market buoyed by progress toward a coronavirus vaccine and growing clarity about Joe Biden’s transition to the presidency.

Thinner trading volumes headed into the Thanksgiving holiday also can have the effect of amplifying market moves in either direction.

The data on tap may refocus investors to concentrate on the challenges that the world faces as it attempts to look past the current spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and into a world where treatments are readily available.

“Yes, vaccines have answered many questions, and we are in a much better situation today compared to the beginning of this year,” wrote Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade in a daily research note.

“But, this does not change the fact that it is going to a fair amount of time before things get back on track. This means that optimism spurred by vaccine and political development maybe a little too much, and the reality is that the recovery path is still full of obstacles,” he wrote.

Indeed, the global tally for confirmed cases of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 climbed to 59.9 million on Wednesday, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University, while the death toll rose above 1.4 million. 

On top of that, there are currently a record of 88,080 COVID-19 patients in U.S. hospitals, according to the COVID Tracking Project, topping the previous record of 85,870 set a day ago. 

That spike comes in a week in which AstraZeneca
AZN,
-2.06%
said its coronavirus vaccine candidate being developed with the University of Oxford can reach efficacy of around 90%, adding to a list of drugmakers, including Pfizer-BioNTech
BNTX,
-4.34%
and Moderna
MRNA,
-2.44%,
racing to advance a viable vaccine.

Vaccine news and reports that Biden was set to select a candidate for U.S. Treasury Secretary, former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, viewed as a steady hand for financial markets, has also helped to encourage stock buying.

What economic reports are on top

Looking ahead, investors will be watching for a bevy of data that have been pulled forward due to the holiday:

At 8:30 a.m. Eastern

• A report on orders for long-lasting goods for October, with a sixth consecutive monthly rise expected.

• A reading of advance trade in goods for October

• Weekly data on jobless claims from the Labor Department

• A second-reading of gross domestic product for the third quarter

At 10 a.m.

• New homes sales for October

• A final reading of consumer sentiment for November

• Reports on personal income and spending, and PCE, for last month

At 4 p.m.

• Minutes from the Fed’s Nov. 4-5 meeting, which comes ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee’s two-day policy meeting starting Dec. 15

Which stocks are in focus?

• Shares of Deere & Co.
  DE,
  +0.15%
   rallied toward a record high in premarket trading Wednesday, after the maker of agriculture, lawn care and construction equipment reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit and sales that were well above expectations, and provided an upbeat outlook.

• Shares of Gap Inc.
  GPS,
  +3.10%
  are in focus after the retailer late Tuesday missed Wall Street expectations for its third-quarter profit and said that the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases in several U.S. areas could weigh on store traffic.

• Nordstrom Inc.
  JWN,
  +4.73%
  reported after the close on Tuesday a surprise GAAP profit for its third quarter.

How are other assets performing?

• The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index
  SXXP,
  -0.14%
  was trading 0.1% lower, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 index
  UKX,
  -0.59%
  was off 0.6%.

• In Asia, China’s Shanghai Composite Index
  SHCOMP,
  -1.19%
  closed down 1.2%, China’s CSI 300
  000300,
  -1.27%
  finished the session with a 1.3% loss, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng
  HSI,
  +0.30%
  booked a 0.3% gain. Japan’s Nikkei 225
  NIK,
  +0.50%
  closed 0.5% higher on Wednesday.

• The ICE U.S. Dollar Index
  DXY,
  -0.07%
  was trading little changed at 92.209.

• Crude-oil futures
  CL.1,
  +0.62%
  were trading 0.7% higher at $45.24 a barrel early Wednesday

• Gold futures
  GOLD,
  -1.93%
  were rebounding after a strong two-day skid, trading 0.4% higher at $1,811.90 an ounce.

MarketWatch has launched ETF Wrap, a weekly newsletter that brings you everything you need to know about the exchange-traded sector: new fund debuts, how to use ETFs to express an investing idea, regulations and industry changes, inflows and performance, and more. Sign up at this link to receive it right in your inbox every Thursday (except on holidays).