By Anora Mahmudova and Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. stock market began the week
on a cautious note, as prices on the main benchmarks opened mostly
unchanged on Monday.
With the economic calendar looking thin, investors are focusing
on the benchmarks' record levels, as well as volatile commodity
prices.
The S&P 500 (SPX) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)
were hovering near record closing levels. The Nasdaq Composite
(RIXF) also was mostly flat.
Need to Know: Stocks overvalued by 100% or a new secular bull
market?
Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a note Friday that risk
assets should move higher in the short term as central-bank
policies and data cause investors to reduce cash going into the
year-end. But, watch gold closely, said Michael Hartnett, the
investment bank's chief investment strategist.
"A sudden gap lower in the gold prices to below $1,000/oz should
coincide with the final thrust higher in stocks, both indicating
capitulation of the 'stubborn bears', the end of the 'melt-up and
the next opportunity to get tactically bearish," said Hartnett.
Gold prices (GCZ4) hovered around $1,164 an ounce on Monday. Oil
(CLZ4) prices rose amid reports of renewed fighting in eastern
Ukraine, but trimmed earlier gains. WTI Crude was up 0.6%, and
Brent oil was up 1%, after being up as much as 2%.
Stocks to watch: Dendreon Corp.'s (DNDN) shares plunged on
Monday after reports indicated that the cancer-treatment maker
announced it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Rackspace Hosting Inc.(RAX) reports on Monday, along with
Sotheby's(BID). See Movers & Shakers
General Motors Co.(GM.XX) shares were lower after The Wall
Street Journal reported the auto maker ordered a half-million
replacement ignition switches to fix Chevrolet Cobalts and other
small cars nearly two months before it let federal safety
regulators know there was a problem.
GoPro's stock (GPRO) slumped after the maker of wearable video
cameras announced plans to sell $800 million shares of Class A
common stock to the public.
Investors will be looking to see if retailers are benefiting
from record levels of consumer sentiment and confidence this week.
Retail sales data is due Friday and ahead of that plenty of
individual companies will report, among them Wal-Mart Stores
Inc.(WMT) on Thursday. See: Retail earnings to test those consumer
sentiment highs
Hong Kong stocks rally on Stock Connect: A bright spot across
global markets Monday was in Hong Kong, where the Hang Seng rose
0.8% after regulators said the Stock Connect program, which allows
individual investors outside of China to buy Shanghai-listed shares
for the first time ever, will start Nov. 17.
A batch of Chinese economic data showed in-line inflation and
export growth that slowed from a year earlier, though it beat
forecasts.
Europe stocks edged higher, while the dollar(DXY) pulled back
from recent gains in the wake of U.S. jobs data.
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires