The Standard & Poor's 500 index edged up 0.1% this week as gains led by health care and energy stocks slightly outweighed declines in sectors including consumer discretionary and utilities.
The market benchmark ended Friday's session at 6,734.11 and is still in the red for November with a month-to-date drop of 1.6%. The index is up 14% for the year.
This week featured the end of a 43-day government shutdown, the longest federal closure in US history. While the government has reopened, investors are still awaiting the resumption of a number of key economic reports including employment data for September, which is scheduled to be released on Nov. 20, and October.
As earnings season winds down, questions loom over what the delayed economic reports may show and how they may impact the Federal Reserve's policy-setting meeting in December.
The health care sector had the largest percentage increase this week, climbing 3.9%, followed by a 2.5% rise in energy and a 0.9% increase in materials. The consumer staples and technology sectors also eked out weekly gains.
Eli Lilly (LLY) was the best performer in health care, rising 11% on the week amid news the company will be partnering with MeiraGTx (MGTX) to develop and commercialize genetic therapies for eye diseases. Under the companies' agreement, MeiraGTx will give Eli Lilly global rights to its AAV-AIPL1 program, which targets Leber congenital amaurosis 4, a severe inherited eye disorder. Leerink Partners upgraded its investment rating on Eli Lilly's stock to outperform from market perform.
The energy sector's top gainer was Devon Energy (DVN), which rose 6.4% on the week in the continued aftermath of its better-than-expected Q3 report last week. Devon Energy is positioned to deliver stable operations in 2026 while benefiting from improved capital efficiency and ongoing optimization, RBC Capital Markets said Tuesday in a report.
On the downside, consumer discretionary fell 2.7%, followed by a 1.2% drop in utilities and declines of 0.9% each in real estate and industrials. Communication services and financials also edged lower.
Williams-Sonoma (WSM) had the largest percentage drop in the consumer discretionary sector this week, falling 7.5%. This comes ahead of the company's next quarterly report, which is set to be released on Wednesday, Nov. 19.
Other companies set to release quarterly results next week include Home Depot (HD), Medtronic (MDT), NVIDIA (NVDA), TJX (TJX), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), Lowe's (LOW), Target (TGT), Walmart (WMT), Intuit (INTU) and BJ's Wholesale Club (BJ).
Beyond the Nov. 20 release of September employment data, the schedule of economic reports remains unclear as the government works to resume releasing data following its 43-day shutdown.