Wall Street Holiday: US stock markets will close early on Friday, November 29, after opening for a half-day session for Black Friday. According to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, the Nasdaq Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) were closed on Thursday, November 28 for Thanksgiving.

The US stock markets will open for half a day on November 29, 2024, closing early at 1:00 PM EST (Eastern Standard Time). The US bond market will also close at 2pm EST on Friday after remaining closed on Thursday. After the Thanksgiving shutdown and the early shutdown on Black Friday, it will be business as usual on Wall Street until the end of December.

The next scheduled closure of US stock markets is for Christmas celebrations on Wednesday, December 25. US markets will also close early on Christmas Eve. Friday is a shortened trading day, but trading hours have been shortened. US stock markets opened higher on November 29 after traders returned from the Thanksgiving break for the half-day session.

Also read: Wall Street Holiday: Nasdaq, NYSE will remain closed on November 28 for Thanksgiving

Wall Street today: S&P 500 near record high, Tesla rises 2%

US stocks joined a global rally on Friday and look set to top November with Wall Street’s biggest monthly gain in a year on post-election growth expectations, while the US dollar headed for a weekly loss on prospects for firmer interest rates in Japan and easing in Europe. US trade was very poor the day after Thanksgiving.

The S&P 500 rose 0.34 percent in early trading, which if sustained would deliver its best monthly gain since November 2023, while the Nasdaq Composite is on track for its best month since May if it rises 0.53 percent holds out. The broad MSCI index for world shares was 0.26 percent firmer and also looked like the best month since May.

The S&P rose 0.7 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 306 points, or 0.7 percent, as of 12:05 p.m. ET. The Nasdaq rose 0.8 percent, and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 0.4 percent.

US stocks enter December with the benchmark S&P 500 near record highs after gaining more than 25 percent since the start of the year. Part of that performance has been fueled by expectations that the US Federal Reserve will continue to cut rates next year after cutting borrowing costs by 75 basis points in 2024. The Dow Jones is up nearly eight percent so far this month, well on track for its best month of 2024.

Donald Trump’s election victory and his promises to cut taxes, deregulate and raise tariffs have sharply increased investor expectations that US and Wall Street stocks will outperform other regions. US tech stocks are also benefiting from an artificial intelligence investing craze.

Upon taking office in January, Trump promised immediate tariffs of 25 percent on all products from Mexico and Canada and another 10 percent on imports from China, a key trading partner for Asian economies and Germany’s export power in the eurozone.

The US dollar index, which measures the currency against six major rivals, fell 0.05 percent to 106.02 and was also poised to end the week 1.4 percent lower thanks to a sudden recovery in the euro, which had swung towards the key milestone of $1. about tariff fears and gloomy prospects for the eurozone.

The prospects for lower US interest rates have also weighed on the dollar, with futures traders expecting the US Federal Reserve to cut rates another 25 basis points to 65 percent at its December meeting. However, before 2025, they see less chance that the US Fed will continue to cut rates at every meeting.

The yield on US 10-year bonds fell by 4.4 basis points to 4.198 percent. Investors bought government bonds this week after Trump nominated hedge fund manager and Wall Street veteran Scott Bessent for Treasury secretary, allaying fears of excessive U.S. borrowing.

While Trump’s tariffs could boost U.S. inflation, U.S. Federal Reserve officials have become cautious about rate cuts, though markets still expect to cut interest rates, currently 4.5 percent to 4.75 percent, by a hike next month a quarter of a percentage point.

U.S. crude rose 1.06 percent to $69.45 per barrel, and Brent rose to $73.36 per barrel, up 0.11 percent on the day. Brent came under more pressure after the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon eased supply fears, while gold rose 0.44 percent to $2,652.59 an ounce. In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin gained 3.02 percent to $98,010.00.

Investors are waiting to see how willing shoppers are to spend money on Christmas gifts. Black Friday unofficially kicks off the holiday shopping season, although retailers have been offering early deals for weeks. Macy’s rose 1.9 percent, Best Buy gained 2.8 percent and Nordstrom fell 0.6 percent.

Apple rose 0.8 percent. The tech giant hopes recently added artificial intelligence features will entice consumers to treat themselves or their family members to a new iPhone this holiday season.

Walt Disney Co. has the biggest percentage gain for November at 22 percent, but the price-weighted index also got a boost from Goldman Sachs, up 16.7 percent, and Salesforce, up more than 13 percent for the month.

The S&P 500 rose more than six percent this month, boosted by Tesla and other stocks boosted by Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election. Shares of Tesla rose 2.4 percent on Friday and have risen more than 36 percent in November. The electric vehicle maker is expected to benefit from CEO Elon Musk’s support for Trump.

Discover Financial Services tops the list of financial stocks that have had a good November, up 0.4 percent Friday and up 23.5 percent this month, as investors believe the credit card company’s merger with Capital One has a greater chance of continuing under Trump.

Elon Musk also boosted shares of Hasbro after triggering takeover speculation by asking in a post on X how much the toy and games company was worth. Hasbro, owner of the role-playing game Dungeon & Dragons, rose 1.4 percent.

The interest rate on government bonds fell, while the interest rate on ten-year government bonds fell to 4.20 percent. Bitcoin, which recently hit $100,000 before falling back, briefly rose above $98,000 but recently traded around $97,400.

The coming week will provide investors with a fresh look at the health of the US economy. A closely watched employment report will be released, which could help determine the trajectory of interest rates in the coming months.

Uncertainty about the U.S. Fed’s interest rate path has increased in recent months as a wave of robust economic data – including a bombshell jobs report for September – raises concerns that inflation could rebound if the central bank cuts rates too far, causing two years of progress in curbing interest rates is being reversed. prices down.

World markets today

Traders are capping off a rollercoaster month for assets largely driven by Trump winning the second US presidential election – and also a fallout from the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Markets are watching developments surrounding Trump’s promise to impose heavy tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico on his first day in office in January.

The euro fell 0.04 percent to $1.0549. The economy has recovered from crushing losses since the November 5 US election, posting a 1.2 percent gain so far this week, buoyed by data on Friday showing higher inflation in the euro zone, boosting chances on deep interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB) were limited.

The European STOXX stock index rose 0.01 percent, while the broad European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.02 percent. Stocks from Asia and emerging markets bore the brunt of the tariff fears.

Indonesian shares fell five percent in November, the worst month since September 2020, while South Korean shares plunged 3.9 percent lower, snapping a five-month losing streak, the longest since 2021.

France’s CAC 40 stock index was the worst-performing major European market this month, down 2.3 percent, as Michel Barnier’s fragile coalition government struggled to gain support for its efforts to close the country’s massive budget deficit push. The French ten-year yield was trading at around 2.8980 percent, after reaching the highest level against Germany since 2012 earlier this week.

Traders have fully priced in a 25 basis point ECB rate cut to three percent in December, although hawkish comments from board member Isabel Schnabel this week tempered speculation of a 50 basis point cut.

Speculation about Japanese rate hikes led to a recovery in the weakened yen, although it was poised for the biggest weekly gain against the US dollar since July. The Japanese yen therefore recovered against the US dollar, as higher inflation in Japan fueled expectations that the central bank would raise interest rates again.

The dollar fell 1.06 percent to 149.93 yen. Inflation fell for the first time since Oct. 21 to 149.53 yen after the Japanese government finalized a stimulus budget, and inflation in Tokyo came in higher than economists expected.

The Paris and Frankfurt stock exchanges closed green. London ended with a more modest gain. The focus was also on shoppers looking for bargains on Black Friday, a crucial day for retailers around the world. In Asia, predicted falling consumer prices in Tokyo on Friday fueled talk of another Japanese interest rate hike next month, sending the yen up one percent against the US dollar.

Consumer prices in Tokyo – seen as a benchmark for Japan as a whole – rose 2.6 percent in the 12 months to November, well above October and much more than expected. The Bank of Japan has raised interest rates twice this year, while the yen has also been supported by forecasts that the US Federal Reserve will cut US interest rates at its December meeting.

The stronger yen Friday weighed on Japanese exporters, causing Tokyo’s stock market to close lower. Hong Kong and Shanghai won after Chinese authorities held a meeting to discuss plans to boost stunted consumption in China, which they hope will boost the world’s second-largest economy.

Global markets largely declined. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.4% after the government reported that inflation in Tokyo, considered an indicator of national trends, was 2.6% in November, down from 1.8% last month, mainly due to a sharp increase in fresh food prices.

The Chinese markets improved. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.3%. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.9%. Gains in retailer shares fueled market gains after a two-day meeting in Beijing aimed at boosting consumption ended on Thursday.

With input from AFP, AP and Reuters