Morning Report 20 November 19: Stocks struggle to advance although tech out-performs

US sharemarkets were mixed on Tuesday. The S&P500 and Dow Jones indexes retreated from record highs after disappointing sales and earnings results from US retailers. Home Depot shares fell by 5.3% after disappointing same-store sales overshadowed better-than-expected earnings. Shares of department store operator Kohl’s fell by 19.2% on weak same-store sales. The Nasdaq was supported by gains in shares of Microsoft (+0.2%) and Facebook (+1.1%). Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said that the US will hike tariffs without a trade deal with China. An hour before the close of trade, the Dow Jones was lower by around 100 points or 0.4%. The S&P500 index was up by 0.01% and the Nasdaq index was higher by around 30 points or 0.4%.

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