Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on November 26, 2024 in New York City.
The S&P 500 rose to new heights on Friday amid a shortened trading day that will cap a strong month for equities.
The broad S&P 500 added 0.7% and hit a fresh intraday high, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.9%.The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 336 points, or 0.8%, on track for its first-ever close above 45,000.
Some of the upward momentum came from chip stocks, which popped after Bloomberg reported that the Biden administration was considering additional barriers on the sale of semiconductor equipment to China that weren't as strong as previously expected. Lam Research rallied more than 3% while Applied Materials and Nvidia each jumped more than 2%. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) added more than 1.5%.
To be sure, it was a broad advance that propelled the S&P 500 into uncharted territory. About 4 out of every 5 S&P 500 members, and all 11 of the sectors that comprise the benchmark, headed for gains in the session.
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Those moves come as traders look to the end of a winning week and month. November trading largely centered on the postelection rally seen on the back of President-elect Donald Trump's victory.
The Dow has added 1.7% week to date, bringing its gain for November close to 8%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite have each advanced 1.2% on the week, and are now tracking to end 2024's penultimate month higher by more than 5% and 6%, respectively. With those gains, the Dow and S&P 500 are both on pace to notch their best months of 2024.
The small-cap-focused Russell 2000 outperformed in November as investors saw the group benefiting from Trump's potential tax cuts. The Russell 2000 has surged more than 11% this month, helped by a gain of about 1.5% this week.
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"The prevailing takeaway from November, to me, is that what was true before the election has remained true after the election," said Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird Private Wealth Management. "As we head into December, it's really hard to fade this bull market here, with all the things going right, the election in the rearview and a seasonal tailwind that still has some room to run."
Stocks have also been lifted late this year by expectations that interest rates remain on a downward course, which raises the present value of future earnings and should boost the economy. Fed funds futures are now pricing in around a 66% likelihood that the central bank will lower rates by 25 basis points at its policy meeting next month, according to CMEGroup's FedWatch tool.
The stock market was dark Thursday and closes at 1 p.m. ET on Friday in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. There are no economic data releases or corporate earnings reports of note on the docket for Friday. Trading was light.
Wedbush reiterates outperform rating on Microsoft, says FTC probe isn’t a worry
The Federal Trade Commission's antitrust investigation into Microsoft shouldn't be a cause for concern for investors, according to Wedbush Securities.
"For Microsoft which has already been through its battle with the US Government we believe this FTC suit is much more bark than bite and ultimately will fad[e] into the background once a new FTC chair is likely named by Trump for January," analyst Dan Ives told clients in a Friday note. "There will still be questions and scrutiny of Microsoft and Big Tech but right now the Khan era ending is the best news for Big Tech which has been in the constant unrelenting focus of Khan and the FTC over the past few years."
Ives – who maintained his outperform rating on the name and whose price target reflects around 30% upside from Wednesday's close – added that President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration will likely spell a more friendly environment for Big Tech more generally, even though the former president has previously called for Google to be criminally prosecuted.
"We also believe Musk having a front row seat in the Trump White House will be a big positive for Big Tech and the broader AI trade with Mag 7 front and center," he continued. "Apple and the DOJ will soon have more battles in the court system but ultimately we believe Big Tech emerges from these legal and Beltway battles with some scrapes and bruises...but nothing more concerning that disrupts the bullish tech trade and AI Revolution thesis into 2025 and beyond."
While Microsoft shares were around 1% lower in morning trading in the wake of the investigation announcement, the stock has still risen more than 11% this year.
— Sean Conlon
U.S. equities may near their peak before Trump’s inauguration, Jefferies strategist says
U.S. stocks have soared this month under the promises of more market deregulation under a second Trump administration. But in a Friday email, Jefferies strategist Christopher Wood hypothesized if the market would reach its peak before Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20.
"Financial markets can get very extreme at inflection points and it has to be wondered whether such a point is approaching," he wrote. "At a time when there is much talk about 'American exceptionalism,' it is worth noting that the S&P 500 price to sales ratio is almost back at a record high. America is also now 66.7% of the MSCI All Country World Index which is an all-time high."
Wood added that against this backdrop, institutional and retail investors alike were expressing "zero interest" in investing in ex-U.S. equities.
— Lisa Kailai Han
S&P 500 could melt up to 6,300 by the end of the year, Evercore ISI says
U.S. stocks "remain in the throes of a powerful yearend surge" likely to carry S&P 500 index future to 6,300 by New Year's — or 5% above Wednesday's close, according to a note out earlier this week by Evercore ISI chartered market technician Rich Ross.
Ross entitled his note, "Tis the Season for a Squeezn," referring to the chance that stocks will be pushed higher the remainder of the year partly by investors who had bet against a continued rally now being forced to cover their short sale positions.
Fundamentally, the advance is being driven by "a pro-cyclical expansion of breadth across Small Caps, Consumer [stocks], Financials, Industrials and Technology" during what is already the strongest time of the year for stocks, Ross wrote. Also buoying prices are static crude oil prices and inflation, coupled with fading dollar strength and Treasury yields that have stopped rising, "the sum of which continues to drive [credit] 'Spreads to the tights and Stocks to new heights' into '25," the chart watcher said.
The S&P 500 would score a 32.1% gain in 2024 if it reached 6,300 by yearend. The benchmark ended last year at 4,769.83 after climbing 24.2% in 2023.
— Scott Schnipper
Bitcoin, MicroStrategy rise Friday but lag the crypto market on a weekly basis
Stocks tied to the price of bitcoin rose as the cryptocurrency climbed closer to the never-before-reached $100,000 mark.
Bitcoin was higher by more than 3% at $98,268.10. MicroStrategy, which employs an aggressive bitcoin buying strategy, gained 4%. Ether saw a more modest gain of more than 1%, while Coinbase, which serves the broader crypto market in addition to bitcoin buyers, hovered below the flat line.
For the week, however, bitcoin and MicroStrategy are crypto market laggards. They are heading for losses of 1% and 5%, respectively. Meanwhile, ether gained nearly 9% this week and Coinbase added 1.7%. The broader crypto market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index, gained 6%.
Mara Holdings jumped 11%, bringing its weekly gain to 15%, after it announced Wednesday afternoon that it purchased an additional 703 bitcoins, bringing its total to 6,474 bitcoins. The market was closed on Thursday.
— Tanaya Macheel
Dollar index on track for positive November
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index is up nearly 2% in November, boosted by an expectation that the greenback will be stronger under a Trump presidency.
It is up about 1.7% versus the Mexican peso and about 2% against the Swiss Franc, though it is down about 1.4% against the Japanese yen.
The greenback jumped earlier this month as Trump's election victory came into focus. Foreign exchange traders expect tariff hikes could lead to the dollar being stronger relative to other global currencies.
— Jesse Pound
Walmart shares hit all-time highs on Black Friday
Shares of Walmart on Black Friday were trading at all-time-high levels back to when it first began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in August 1972.
Shares of the stock were last higher by less than 1% at the kickoff of the holiday shopping season.
Walmart has been a retail winner in recent weeks after reporting strong sales in its most recent quarter, outperforming competitors such as Target and Kohl's, where early holiday deals failed to meaningfully boost their businesses.
— Tanaya Macheel, Melissa Repko
Stocks on the move midday
Here are some of the companies making the biggest moves during midday trading:
- Chip equipment stocks — Global chip equipment stocks rose on news that the Biden administration is considering further sanctions on sales of semiconductor equipment and artificial intelligence memory chips to China that could be less strict than earlier proposals. Shares of U.S.-based companies Applied Materials and KLA Corporation each gained more than 3%, while Lam Research jumped 5.3% following the Bloomberg report. Dutch equipment maker ASML climbed about 3.5%.
- Robinhood — The brokerage firm saw shares rising more than 3%, resuming their postelection rally. Friday's gains came after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved the creation of a 24-hour stock exchange by startup 24 Exchange, paving the way for round-the-clock trading.
- Advance Auto Parts — Shares dropped 7% after credit rating agency Moody's Ratings downgraded the auto parts company's senior unsecured debt to Ba1, below investment grade, according to FactSet.
Read the full list here.
— Samantha Subin
Berkshire Hathaway shares on track for a record close
Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares rose again Friday, on track to hit a record closing high.
Shares of Warren Buffett's conglomerate gained 0.2% to $724,313 apiece, poised to eclipse the previous record close of $718,520 reached on Tuesday.
The Omaha-based juggernaut has rallied more than 33% this year, outperforming the S&P 500's 26% return. The strong performance came even as the company cut back on buybacks drastically. The 94-year-old investing icon also sold big portions of his top holdings Apple and Bank of America this year.
— Yun Li
Major averages pop in November
The major averages are on pace to end November in the green.
The S&P 500 rose 5.6% month to date. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 6% and 7.5%, respectively.
Meanwhile, the small-cap Russell 2000 jumped 11.1%. The small-cap sector has rallied following the victory of President-elect Trump on expectations of tax cuts and deregulation, which investors believe will boost the sector.
— Hakyung Kim
Gold miners ETF heads for worst month since January
The VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) headed for its worst month since January, as stocks connected to the metal bucked the broader market's postelection rally.
The fund has dropped about 6.5% in November, on track to notch its worst monthly performance since it slid nearly 10% in January. By comparison, the broad S&P 500 has popped more than 5% month to date.
Despite November's pullback, the ETF is still tracking to end the year higher by more than 20%.
— Alex Harring
Tesla shares up 33% this month in postelection rally
Tesla, seen as a big beneficiary under the incoming Trump administration, is on track to post a banner month.
Shares of the electric vehicle company have rallied more than 33% in November to return to a $1 trillion market cap, headed for their best month since January 2023.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has this year been a prominent backer and donor to the president-elect. Trump recently assigned Musk a starring role, leading a so-called Department of Government Efficiency along with Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate.
— Yun Li
Stocks open higher
The three major indexes opened Friday's shortened trading session in the green.
The Dow rose about 0.3% shortly after 9:30 a.m. ET. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each ticked up around 0.2%.
The stock market closes at 1 p.m. ET on Friday after being dark on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday. Trading is expected to be light.
— Alex Harring
MicroStrategy, Applied Materials among the stocks making moves before the bell
Here are some stocks making big moves in the premarket:
- MicroStrategy — Shares of the bitcoin development company jumped more than 5%, extending the roughly 10% gain seen in the previous session, after the price of the cryptocurrency continued to climb. The stock has seen massive gains this year, surging more than 515%.
- Chip equipment stocks — Shares of chip equipment stocks moved higher on a report that the Biden administration is considering more restrictions on sales of semiconductor equipment and artificial intelligence memory chips to China that may be less strict than expected. Shares of U.S.-based companies Applied Materials, Lam Research and KLA Corporation rose between 1.3% and 2.2%, while Dutch equipment maker ASML gained 1.5% following the Bloomberg report, which cited unnamed people familiar with the matter.
- Retail stocks — Key retailers were marginally higher as Black Friday shopping got underway. Walmart, the country's largest retailer, rose more than 0.2%, while shares of Target and Costco advanced 0.6% and 0.3%, respectively.
Read here for the full list.
— Sean Conlon
Gold, silver poised for worst months of 2024
Gold and silver prices are on track to see their biggest monthly declines this year.
Gold has slid more than 2% in November. If that holds, it would mark gold's worst month since September 2023, when the metal fell more than 5%.
Silver has dropped more than 4% this month. It would be silver's largest monthly loss since December 2023, when it tumbled more than 6%.
— Alex Harring, Gina Francolla
U.S. semiconductor equipment makers gain as Biden administration considers new China chip measures
The U.S. is mulling new restrictions on the sale of artificial intelligence memory chips to China, according to a Bloomberg report that cited sources familiar with the matter. However, Bloomberg reported that the barriers under consideration wouldn't be as strict as some previously expected proposals.
According to the report, the restrictions could come as soon as next week and affect Micron Technology, along with some Taiwan-based companies and suppliers to Huawei Technologies.
Micron shares were flat, while AI chipmaker Nvidia added 1.5% before the bell. Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML Holding added more than 1%, while U.S.-based Lam Research, KLA Corporation and Applied Materials gained at least 2% each.
— Samantha Subin
Correction: The Bloomberg report said the restrictions could affect suppliers to Huawei Technologies. A previous version misspelled the company's name.
