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Stock Indexes Battle To Push North In Rising Volume

Stock indexes opened higher Tuesday and battled to push further north in late-morning trade. If the stock market can stay positive, the gains would be the first since the Nov. 7 follow-through day.

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The follow-through day signaled a new uptrend was underway. But the major indexes are now under pressure after three days of losses.

The Nasdaq advanced 1.2% midday Tuesday. Small caps rumbled 1.1% higher in the Russell 2000. The large-cap S&P 500 tacked on 0.7%, while the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average crawled 0.2% higher.

Volume rose on both major exchanges vs. the previous session. Trade dropped in the Nasdaq in each of the previous three sessions.

Caterpillar (CAT) and Home Depot (HD) provided the bullish and bearish leadership for the Dow, with Cat up about 3% in average volume and Home Depot down 3.5% in big trade.

In mid-January, Caterpillar marked a high but then declined 35% over nine months. The stock rebounded off its late-October low and is now 26% off its high.

Home Depot beat views on the top and bottom lines. The company also raised guidance for the full fiscal year, which ends in January. Then why the price drop Tuesday? Rising mortgage rates and existing-home sales that are near a three-year low could be the culprits. But rising rates and home sales are nothing new.

Existing-home sales for October will be released Nov. 21.

Quality stocks have struggled so far this month. Among Apple (AAPL) and the FANG stocks, Facebook (FB) is down 5% for the month, Amazon.com (AMZN) is up 4%, Apple is down 11%, Netflix (NFLX) is off 1%, and Alphabet (GOOGL) is down 3%.

Staid Stocks Up

Shelter is mostly among more staid picks. So far this month, soap and household products provider Clorox (CLX) is up 8%; consumer goods company Procter & Gamble (PG), 5%; utility Southern Company (SO), 5%; Coca-Cola (KO), 4%; and McDonald's (MCD), 4%.

Among IBD's 197 industry groups, the day's losers included oil, gold miners and meat. The day's winners included RVs and homebuilders.

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