5 things to know before the stock market opens Wednesday, Nov. 17

Here are the most important news, trends and analysis that investors need to start their trading day:

U.S. stock futures were relatively flat Wednesday, one day after robust retail earnings propelled Wall Street higher. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished Tuesday just shy of their Nov. 8 record high closes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, helped by Home Depot‘s 5.7% advance, also rose but needed to make up more than 0.8% to top its Nov. 8 record close. Dow stock Boeing climbed 1.5% in Wednesday’s premarket after the company received an order from India’s Akasa Air for 737 Max jets worth $9 billion. Bitcoin on Wednesday topped $60,000 again but remained about 13% off last week’s all-time high.

Retail earnings continued Wednesday, with Target reporting fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue that topped estimates. The big-box retailer raised forward guidance. But like Walmart on Tuesday, Target investors worried about margins as the company absorbed some of the higher costs of supply chain disruptions and labor shortages rather than passing them on to consumers. Target shares fell more than 3% in the premarket.

One day after Home Depot’s strong quarterly results, Lowe‘s reported fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue that beat expectations. The home improvement chain got a bump in business from home professionals and online sales. Like Home Depot, Lowe’s quarterly same-store sales single-digit percentage increases exceeded estimates but were not nearly as much as the Covid-fueled nesting trend of a year ago. Lowe’s raised its full-year revenue forecast. Shares rose 3% in the premarket.

The 10-year Treasury yield held above 1.6% early Wednesday ahead of the government’s 8:30 a.m. ET release of October housing starts and building permits. Economists expect starts to increase 1.6% to an annual rate of 1.58 million units compared with September’s 1.6% decline. Permits in October are seen rising 2.6% to an annual rate of 1.63 million after a 7.7% decline in the prior month. On Tuesday, homebuilder confidence surged past expectations, as buyer demand remains high.