Stock futures are little changed as investors assess pause in November rally: Live updates

Wolfe Research strategist Rob Ginsberg thinks investors could benefit from a more defensive stance at this moment.

“Based on a few factors … we believe it might be prudent to harvest and cash in some chips following the past month’s violent rally. The overbought signal that we discussed last week is the obvious one, but as we all know, that condition can persist, so it’s important to look for signs that momentum is starting to peter out,” Ginsberg wrote.

— Fred Imbert

The Thai baht strengthened 0.4% to 34.93 against the dollar in early trading on Tuesday.

Thailand’s currency reached as much as 34.86 against the greenback, marking its strongest level since late August.

Official data on Monday showed Thailand’s exports climbing in October at its fastest pace since June 2022.

Exports rose 8% last month on an annual basis, but was still below a Reuters poll forecast of a 9.3% year-on-year increase.

Focus will now shift to the Bank of Thailand’s policy meeting on Wednesday, where it will likely hold its key interest rate at 2.5%, according to economists polled by Reuters.

The BOT raised its key interest rate for an eighth consecutive time at its September policy meeting and said economic growth and inflationary pressures should pick up next year.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Hong Kong recorded its first annual increase in exports since April 2022, according to government data for October released Monday.

Exports from Hong Kong rose 1.4% last month, in positive territory after a 5.3% contraction in September. Imports also recorded an increase of 2.6% in October, against a decline of 0.4% in the prior month.

The rise in exports was led by Asian regions, including India, Vietnam, Thailand and mainland China. Singapore, the Philippines and Taiwan record decrease in exports from Hong Kong.

“The pick-up was largely attributable to an improvement in exports to mainland China which rose 5.6% yoy, the first increase since February 2022,” analysts at Commerzbank wrote in client note.

“Given Hong Kong’s role in re-exports of Chinese products, particularly in electronics, the improvement in trade performance suggests a better near-term outlook for mainland China’s exports.”

— Shreyashi Sanyal

The stock market rally should expand in 2024 as more sectors show strong earnings trends, according to Scott Chronert, U.S. equity strategist at Citi.

“The big call for ’24 is going to one of broadening or not away from this mega-cap growth leadership towards other areas of the market,” he said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.” “We’re of the view increasingly that that broadening is being setup by what should be a more consistent pattern of sector earnings trends up and to the right, in a positive direction.”

He noted the firm expects the S&P 500 to hit 5,000 points by mid 2024. That’s nearly 10% higher than Monday’s closing level at 4,550.43.

— Alex Harring

It’s time to revisit smaller technology stocks such as Zoom Video Communications and Peloton in 2024, according to Aswath Damodaran, professor of finance at NYU Stern School of Business.

Both names appear undervalued after their selloff this year, and could start to rebound, the finance professor said. Zoom Video Communications is off by more than 3% in 2023, while Peloton shares plunged 31%, as higher interest rates dented the prospects of growth stocks.

“You look at stocks, Zoom and Peloton and those stocks, are way below where they were two years ago,” Damodaran told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Monday.

“Now, two years ago, of course, they were all overvalued, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you saw — especially if the market stays healthy and the economy doesn’t go into recession — some of those small tech stocks that have been left on the wayside try to make up some ground this coming year.”

— Sarah Min

The S&P 500 could touch the 4,800 level next year as investors digest a changing macroeconomic environment underpinned by the 2024 election, according to Renaissance Macro Research chairman and head of technical research Jeff deGraaf.

“I think at this stage you want to play it for the next eight weeks or so, and then we’ll see at the beginning of the year, seasonal election years do tend to be flat the first half,” deGraaf told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Monday. “I could easily see us up around 4800 on the upside for the S&P and maybe go sideways for an extended period of time as we kind of digest the potential for the election in 2024.”

— Brian Evans

Zscaler slid nearly 7% in after-hour trading as billings guidance took focus from an otherwise strong report.

The cybersecurity cloud stock beat forecasts of analysts polled by LSEG on both lines and issued a strong full-year outlook for earnings and revenue. But the company kept its expectations for billings unmoved for the year, pushing investors to reduce exposure to the stock.

Despite the slide, it has been a banner year for shares. The stock has soared 71.5% this year, while the First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF (CIBR) has added just over 26.2%.

CrowdStrike, a competitor, also fell more than 1% in extended trading.

Both stocks hit highs not seen in at least a year during Monday’s session.

— Alex Harring, Robert Hum, Ethan Kraft

Stock futures saw muted moves shortly after 6 p.m. ET.

Dow futures rose around 0.1%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures were both near flat.

— Alex Harring