Markets Little Changed As Investors And Traders Salute Veterans

U.S. markets were little changed at the end of the trading day.

The bond market was closed on Tuesday to commemorate Veterans Day. Typically speaking, the bond market is a major driver of the equities market. When the bond market is closed, equities volume tends to be lower in a less volatile trading session.

Despite a relatively quiet day on the news-front, the CBOE Volatility Index rose 3 percent to trade near 13. The S&P 500 Index traded at all-time intraday high of 2,041.28 while the Dow closed the day near its all-time highs.

• The Dow gained 0.01 percent, closing at 17,614.90.
• The S&P 500 gained 0.07 percent, closing at 2,039.68.
• The Nasdaq gained 0.19 percent, closing at 4,660.56.
• Gold gained 0.44 percent, trading at $1,164.90 an ounce.
• Oil gained 0.47 percent, trading at $77.76 a barrel.

News Of Note

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is likely to delay a planned sales tax hike that was originally called for October 2015.

The U.S. and Chinese governments reached an agreement to eliminate tariffs across more than 250 categories and sales of $1 trillion.

Equities News Of Note

Analysts at Citigroup maintained a Buy rating on Ford Motor (NYSE: F) with a price target lowered to $17 from a previous $18. Shares gained 2.64 percent, closing at $14.37.

Related: Citigroup's Battle Of The Giants: General Motors Vs. Ford

Analysts at Bank of America maintained a Buy rating on Nike (NYSE: NKE) with a price target raised to $110 from a previous $100. Shares hit new 52-week highs of $95.30 before turning slightly negative and closing the day at $94.88, down 0.08 percent.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs upgraded Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) to Conviction Buy from Neutral. Shares gained 0.92 percent, closing at $78.04.

Analysts at Sterne Age maintained a Buy rating on Visa (NYSE: V) with a price target raised to $275 from a previous $265. Shares lost 0.19 percent, closing at $249.73.

D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI) reported its fourth quarter results this morning. The company earned $0.45 per share, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48. Revenue of $2.40 billion beat the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Shares gained 2.22 percent, closing at $23.95.

Alibaba's (NYSE: BABA) issued a press release saying that it generated RMB 48.9 billion (approximately $8 billion) in gross merchandise volume by 8:43PM Hangzhou time. By the end of the event, Alibaba's GMV sales soared to $9.3 billion. Shares lost 3.87 percent, closing at $114.54.

Speaking at an RBC conference, Netflix's (NASDAQ: NFLX) CFO David Wells said that the U.S. addressable market of 60 million to 90 million subscribers is a target, not an expectation. Shares lost 1.22 percent, closing at $382.55.

Recommended: Bank Of America Recaps Earnings Season Thus Far

According to The Wall Street Journal, Bill Ackman's Pershing Square has taken a $2 billion stake in Zoetis (NYSE: ZTS). Shares spiked to new 52-week highs of $44.13 before closing the day at $43.72, up 8.86 percent.

According to Reuters, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has been sending sales teams to pitch its enterprise products and services to many CIOs. Shares gained 0.80 percent, closing at $109.70.

Quote Of The Day

"I even don't dare to watch our stock price, because this is what other people think who you are. I dare not watch it, I think let the market take care of themselves, we should take care of the business.” -Alibaba's Executive Chairman Jack Ma speaking to CNBC.