Today At A Glance:

Stocks drifted as traders weighed mixed earnings and the path of Fed cuts; the S&P 500 hovered near record territory while the Dow eased and the Nasdaq slipped. Discount retail outperformed after Dollar General’s upbeat results and guidance, while several software names diverged on AI-linked outlooks. A busy retail tape (Hormel, Kroger) added stock-specific swings that masked otherwise calm index action. Treasury yields ticked up around 4.10% on the 10-year as jobless claims and layoff data complicated the case for faster easing. Into Friday’s data and another wave of retail prints, positioning stayed cautious but constructive.

Today’s Index Performance:

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: The index opened today at 47,888.16 and closed today at 47,821.64, a −0.14% move on the day.
• S&P 500: The index opened today at 6,865.68 and closed today at 6,843.81, a −0.32% move on the day.
• Nasdaq Composite: The index opened today at 23,527.30 and closed today at 23,451.75, a −0.32% move on the day.

Gainers Of Note:

• Dollar General (DG) — discount retailer; shares jumped after a clean Q3 beat and a guidance raise driven by resilient demand for essentials and better shrink control.
• Salesforce (CRM) — enterprise software/CRM; rose on an earnings beat and higher FY26 outlook tied to accelerating uptake of its AI products (Agentforce, Data 360).
• Hormel Foods (HRL) — packaged foods (Spam, Planters, Jennie-O); gained after forecasting FY26 EPS above estimates and highlighting pricing, cost cuts, and strong turkey/snacking demand.

Losers Of Note:

• Snowflake (SNOW) — cloud data platform; fell after guiding to slower Q4 product-revenue growth (27%) despite solid Q3 results and AI partnerships, tempering high expectations.
• Symbotic (SYM) — warehouse automation/robotics; slid on dilution concerns following a 10M-share primary/secondary offering announcement.
• Kroger (KR) — supermarkets; declined as quarterly sales missed and the company trimmed its full-year sales view amid price-sensitive consumers and intense grocery competition.

Active Traders Of Note:

• NVIDIA (NVDA) — AI semiconductors; among the day’s most-traded names with heavy turnover as policy headlines eased export-priority worries for AI chips and the stock rebounded.
• Tesla (TSLA) — EVs/energy; remained a volume leader as mega-cap growth churned and options activity stayed elevated around key technical levels.
• American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) — apparel retail; saw elevated trading following a raised holiday outlook and celebrity-driven campaigns boosting demand (Aerie standout).

Looking Forward:

Friday’s data and any fresh labor reads will shape rate-cut odds into next week’s Fed meeting; a firmer jobs tape could keep yields sticky and cap multiple expansion. Retail remains in focus: post-earnings revisions and holiday-traffic anecdotes are likely to keep discount and teen-apparel names volatile. For tech, AI-spend pacing and margin frameworks (post-Snowflake) are the near-term swing factors while mega-cap volumes (NVDA/TSLA) continue to steer intraday risk.

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