Traders work on the ground of the New York Stock Exchange throughout morning buying and selling on Nov. 26, 2024.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 rose to new heights on Friday amid a shortened buying and selling day that capped a powerful month for equities.
The S&P 500 added 0.56% to six,032.38, whereas the Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.83% to 19,218.17.The Dow climbed 188.59 factors, or 0.42%, to finish at 44,910.65. Both the Dow and S&P 500 notched new intraday and shutting highs.
Some of the upward momentum got here from chip shares, which popped after Bloomberg reported that the Biden administration was contemplating further obstacles on the sale of semiconductor gear to China that weren’t as strong as beforehand anticipated. Lam Research rallied greater than 3%, whereas Nvidia jumped greater than 2%. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) added 1.3%.
A reasonably broad advance propelled the S&P 500 into uncharted territory. About three out of each 5 S&P 500 members completed the session within the inexperienced.
Those strikes got here as merchants appeared to the top of a profitable week and month. November buying and selling largely centered on the postelection rally seen on the again of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory.
The Dow added 1.4% this week, bringing its acquire for November to 7.5%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite every superior 1.1% on the week, ending 2024’s penultimate month increased by greater than 5% and 6%, respectively. With these positive aspects, the Dow and S&P 500 notched their greatest months of 2024.
Dow, YTD
The small cap-focused Russell 2000 outperformed in November as traders noticed the group benefiting from Trump’s potential tax cuts. The Russell 2000 surged 10.8% this month, helped by a acquire of 1.2% this week.
“The prevailing takeaway from November, to me, is that what was true earlier than the election has remained true after the election,” mentioned Ross Mayfield, funding strategist at Baird Private Wealth Management. “As we head into December, it is actually exhausting to fade this bull market right here, with all of the issues going proper, the election within the rearview and a seasonal tailwind that also has some room to run.”
Stocks have additionally been lifted late this yr by expectations that rates of interest stay on a downward course, which raises the current worth of future earnings and will increase the financial system. Fed funds futures at the moment are pricing in round a 66% chance that the central financial institution will decrease charges by 25 foundation factors at its coverage assembly subsequent month, in accordance with CMEGroup’s FedWatch Tool.
The inventory market was darkish Thursday and closed at 1 p.m. ET on Friday in observance of the Thanksgiving vacation. Friday buying and selling quantity on each the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq was lower than two-thirds the previous 30 days’ every day common.
