Stocks are searching for direction at midday as investors consider a number of crosscurrents, including trade headlines related to the U.S. and China as well as America and its nearer neighbors, the start of the Fed's last rate setting meeting of the year and the political drama unfolding as Democrats move forward with plans to vote on whether to impeach President Trump.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., third quarter productivity was revised up to a 0.2% decline versus the preliminary 0.3% decline estimate, while unit labor cost growth was revised sharply lower to a 2.5% pace from 3.6% previously. The NFIB small business optimism index climbed 2.2% to 104.7 in November. The Fed's FOMC began its two-day meeting, though no policy changes or surprises are expected from tomorrow's monetary policy announcement.
On the trade front, The Wall Street Journal's Lingling Wei and Bob Davis said, citing officials on both sides, that U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators are laying the groundwork for a delay of a fresh round of tariffs that the U.S. has threatened to enact on Dec. 15 if a deal had not been reached.
Outside of talks with China, CNBC's Kayla Tausche was among those reporting that a USMCA deal will be signed today, stating via Twitter that "Rep. Kevin Brady tells GOP conference that Amb. Lighthizer will sign completed deal in Mexico today, per two sources in room."
In other political news, House Democrats announced that they will vote on whether to impeach President Trump on two articles - abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The House Judiciary Committee plans to vote on the articles this week.
TOP NEWS: Shares of Autozone (AZO) are among the best performers on the S&P 500, rising 7% following the car repair retailer's quarterly report. The earnings beat also appears to be providing a lift to peer Advance Auto Parts (AAP), whose shares are up 3% near noon.
Shares of Chewy.com (CHWY) are 2.5% higher following the company's report of stronger than expected revenue for its fiscal third quarter. Also of note is the fact that the post-IPO lockup period for the online pet goods retailer expires on Wednesday, offering company insiders the first opportunity to sell their stock.
In M&A news, The Wall Street Journal's Cara Lombardo, Corrie Driebusch, and Miriam Gottfried reported last night that NortonLifeLock (NLOK) has drawn deal interest from several companies including rival McAfee, which is owned by Intel (INTC). McAfee has joined Permira and Advent International as possible suitors for NortonLifeLock, which is the new name for Symantec since the company closed a $10.7B deal to sell its enterprise-security business to Broadcom (AVGO) last month.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Dermira (DERM), which rose 10% after it received FDA Fast Track designation for lebrikizumab. Also higher were Avid Bioservices (CDMO) and Stitch Fix (SFIX), which gained a respective 19% and 6.5% after reporting quarterly results.
Among the notable losers was Designer Brands (DBI), which slid 16% after it reported quarterly results and cut its fiscal 2019 guidance. Also lower after reporting quarterly results were Conn's (CONN) and Construction Partners (ROAD), which fell 30% and 20%, respectively.
INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was up 0.77 to 27,910.37, the Nasdaq was up 16.30, or 0.19%, to 8,638.13, and the S&P 500 was up 2.14, or 0.07%, to 3,138.10.
AutoZone
+78.16 (+6.67%)
Advance Auto Parts
+4.1 (+2.70%)
Chewy
+0.75 (+3.10%)
Use GEN
+0.82 (+3.22%)
Intel
+0.12 (+0.21%)
Journey Medical
+0.83 (+9.13%)
Avid Bioservices
+1.14 (+19.49%)
Stitch Fix
+1.76 (+6.99%)
Designer Brands
-2.83 (-16.64%)
Conn's
-6.22 (-30.33%)
Construction Partners
-3.96 (-19.26%)