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Markets ebbed back into positive territory in Tuesday’s session, closing up +136 points on the Dow, +0.31%. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at or near session highs today, +0.92% and +2.03%, respectively; these indexes bore nearly all the sell-off burden yesterday. The small-cap Russell 2000 gained +0.42% on the day.

Case-Shiller Home Prices Improve in November
 

The home price index report from Case-Shiller has long been considered the most accurate of monthly housing data. That said, it is also the most stale, coming in this morning for the month of November. Headline gains of +4.3% was in-line with expectations, and 10 basis points (bps) above the prior month’s tally, for the 22nd consecutive month of housing price growth.

In the 20-city survey, 18 outpaced the previous month, with only Seattle and Tampa — two of the hotter housing markets over the past year or so — coming in lighter than October. Housing prices overall rose +4.2% year over year, and of course mortgage rates have remained high in an elevated interest rate environment, last coming down 25 bps back in November of last year to a range of +4.25-4.50%.

Consumer Confidence Tapers in January
 

After the market open, we saw results from a new Consumer Confidence survey. Expectations were for a slight downturn from 109.5 the previous month, but at 104.1 it’s lower than the 106.0 estimate. There is plenty of murkiness in the economic outlook at this stage; we’ll have to wait to start to see some results of new U.S. administration policy before getting a firmer grasp of the upcoming economy.

Earnings Results at a Glance: SBUX, FFIV, QRVO
 

Following the closing bell today, Starbucks (SBUX - Free Report) posted its first quarterly earnings report with CEO Brian Niccol at the helm. Results are decent: earnings of 69 cents per share outpaced the Zacks consensus by 3 cents, on revenues of $9.4 billion which surpassed expectations for $9.3 billion. Global same-store sales were down -4% for the quarter, but this is an improvement over the -5.5% anticipated. Shares are up +3.8% in late trading on the news.

Internet services provider F5 (FFIV - Free Report) shares are +14% following that company’s big beats on top and bottom lines: earning of $3.84 per share on $766 million in quarterly sales easily outperformed the $1.20 per share and $901.3 million expected. Next-quarter guidance has been upped slightly on both earnings and revenues for the Zacks Rank #2 (Buy)-rated stock.

Radio frequency infrastructure solutions firm Qorvo (QRVO - Free Report) are also +14% in today’s after-hours trading. Earnings of $1.61 per share was more than 40 cents higher than expected, while revenues of $916 million came in ahead of the $901.3 million the Zacks consensus was looking for. Good guidance higher on both earnings and sales for next quarter are helping spur positive sentiment. The company has not missed on earnings since 2016.

What to Expect for the Stock Market Tomorrow
 

We continue our Q4 earnings parade, particularly after Wednesday’s close, with expectations for Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) and Tesla (TSLA - Free Report), among others, reporting results tomorrow afternoon. We’ll also see results from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on monetary policy, but expectations are nil that rates will come down from their current +4.25-4.50% range. We’ll take careful notes on what Fed Chair Jerome Powell says about the decision, both in the statement release and in Powell’s press conference afterward.

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