- Stocks finished mixed in a quiet day marked by few headlines, as stocks continued to consolidate their recent gains; the Dow, for example, is up just 1.5% in November vs. the index’s 7.9% jump from its Oct. 16 low through the end of October.
- The day was more interesting in commodities, where Nymex crude oil futures gained 2.4% to $75.96/bbl after tumbling to multi-year lows yesterday, while gold gained 2.1% to $1,185.60/oz.
- The Treasury market see-sawed through the day with early weakness and strength in to the close; the 10-year yield swung from a high of 2.38% to end at a low of 2.32%.
- Consumer-related U.S. data showed promise, with a larger than expected increase in retail sales and the highest monthly consumer sentiment reading since July 2007.