A specialist trader works at his post on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, Nov. 27, 2024.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Stocks ticked higher Friday amid a shortened trading day that will cap a strong month for equities.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 221 points, or 0.5%, on track for another record close. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite added 0.6% and 0.8%, respectively.
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. Applied Materials and Lam Research rallied more than 3% and 5%, respectively, while Nvidia jumped more than 2%. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) added more than 2%.
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 more than 1% week to date, bringing its gain for November near 7.5%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite have each advanced 1% 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.
Dow, YTD
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 about 11% this month, helped by a gain of about 1.4% this week.
“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.
