Stocks posted solid gains as Wall Street wrapped up its best monthly performance of the year.
The S&P 500 rose 0.6%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%. Both indexes ended November with their best monthly performance this year. The Nasdaq rose 0.8%.
Friday is shortened trading daysthe stock market closes at 1pm ET and the bond market closes an hour later.
Investors were focused on how much shoppers were willing to spend on holiday gifts. Could break spending records In 2024, the typical consumer is expected to spend more than $1,000, which is a 14% increase over last year. Retailers have been offering early sales for weeks, but Black Friday officially marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season.
Macy’s and Best Buy each rose about 2%, while Apple rose 1.1%. The tech giant hopes that recently added artificial intelligence features will be enough for consumers to treat themselves or their relatives to a new iPhone for the holidays.
“The flagship iPhone 16 represents the start of Apple intelligence, with 18.2 likely released next week, so Black Friday will be a big day for Apple,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a Nov. 29 research note. “We officially begin the important holiday season.”
“In our view, Apple’s AI rollout over the coming months will ultimately lead to hundreds of AI-driven apps being built by developers on top of the Apple Intelligence building blocks, leading to a new era in Cupertino. It will be the beginning,” he added.
Dow and S&P 500 in November
The Dow rose 7.5% in November, arguably the best month of 2024. The Walt Disney Co. had the biggest gain for the month at 22.1%, but the price-weighted index also received a boost from Goldman Sachs, rising 17.5%, making it the best month of 2024. 608.57, while Salesforce rose more than 13% to $329.99.
The S&P 500 rose 5.7% this month, led by Tesla shares and other stocks boosted by Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election.
Discover Financial Services led the list of financial stocks that had a strong November, rising nearly 23% for the month despite posting a small loss on Friday. Investors believe a merger between credit card companies and Capital One will become more likely under the Trump administration, leading to less scrutiny of the entire financial services industry.
Tesla stock rose 3.7% on Friday, marking a month-to-month gain of more than 38%. Electric car makers are expected to benefit from CEO Elon Musk’s support for Mr. Trump.
Musk also sparked takeover speculation and boosted Hasbro’s stock by asking about the toy and game company’s value in a post on X. Hasbro, which operates the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, rose 2%.
Bond yields fell, with the 10-year Treasury yield falling to 4.19%.
Bitcoin will be close to $100,000 at the end of the month
Bitcoin recently hit $100,000 and then fell, briefly peaking above $98,000 and recently trading around $97,300.
World markets have mostly fallen. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 Index fell to 0.4 after the government announced that Tokyo’s inflation rate, an indicator of national trends, hit 2.6% in November, up from 1.8% the previous month, mainly due to soaring fresh food prices. % fell.
The Chinese market has advanced. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.3%. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.9%. Rising retailer stocks led the market’s gains as a two-day meeting in Beijing focused on boosting consumption concluded on Thursday.
