U.S. stocks climbed on Friday in thin trading volume during a shortened session after Thanksgiving, driven by gains in retail and a recovery in tech stocks. Expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut in December strengthened throughout the week, helping underpin sentiment across equity markets. All of the major S&P 500 sectors were up except healthcare. But the three main U.S. stock indexes were lower for the month, reflecting growing concerns about stretched AI and tech valuations, with investors taking profits and reducing exposure.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 35.63 points, or 0.52%, to end at 6,848.24 points, while the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 150.31 points, or 0.65%, to 23,365.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 279.11 points, or 0.59%, to 47,705.31. Futures trading was temporarily disrupted in the morning following a CME Group outage that had temporarily frozen currencies, commodities and equity contracts around the globe. CME’s stock futures offerings linked to U.S. stocks are typically heavily traded before U.S. markets open, with investors relying on them to gauge trends and directions. CME said it was due to a cooling issue at its CyrusOne data centers. Shares of CME Group CME.O were marginally higher.
This week also kicked off the holiday shopping season, starting with Thanksgiving on Thursday, Black Friday and Cyber Monday – crucial days of sales for big-box retailers.
Reporting by Sabrina Valle in New York, Johann M Cherian, Shashwat Chauhan, Purvi Agarwal and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Maju Samuel. Editing by Rod Nickel.
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