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US Stocks Rise for 5th Straight Day 11/28 15:31
Wall Street rose for a fifth straight day to put the wraps on a volatile
month.
(AP) -- Wall Street rose for a fifth straight day to put the wraps on a
volatile month.
The S&P 500 rose 0.5% in abbreviated trading Friday and closed out November
with a slim gain of 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 289 points, or
0.6%. The Nasdaq gained 0.7% but ended November with a drop of 1.5% because of
losses for some big tech stocks.
Stocks swooned in mid-month as investors worried that stocks boosted by the
frenzy around artificial intelligence such as Nvidia had gotten too expensive.
Nvidia lost 1.8% Friday and closed the month with a double-digit loss. Oracle
fell 23% in November while Palantir Technologies sank 16%.
Some tech stocks did notch monthly gains, most notably Alphabet, which rose
nearly 14%, due to excitement about its recently released Gemini AI model.
The market turned around on hopes the Federal Reserve will again cut
interest rates at its meeting next month. Recent comments from Fed officials
have given traders more confidence the central bank will again cut interest
rates at its meeting that ends Dec. 10. Traders are betting on a nearly 87%
probability that the Fed will cut next month, according to data from CME Group.
The central bank, which has already cut rates twice this year in hopes of
shoring up the slowing job market, is facing an increasingly difficult decision
on interest rates as inflation rises and the job market slows. Cutting interest
rates further could help support the economy as employment weakens, but it
could also fuel inflation. The latest round of corporate earnings reports was
mostly positive, but economic data has been mixed.
The minutes of the Fed's most recent meeting in October indicate there are
likely to be strong divisions among policymakers about the Fed's next step.
Investors also had their eye on retail stocks as they wait to see if
shoppers rushed to take advantage of the annual Black Friday sales event.
Macy's fell 0.3% while Kohl's gained 1.4%. Dick's Sporting Goods dropped 0.5%.
Among specialty retailers, Abercrombie & Fitch rose 2.9% and American Eagle
Outfitters gained 0.7%.
Amid the volatility in tech stocks, traders moved money into other parts of
the market. Pharmaceutical companies Eli Lilly and Merck each rose more than
20% for the month. Travel-related companies such as Marriott and Expedia also
posted strong monthly gains.
Earlier, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq
were halted for hours due to a technical issue at the Chicago Mercantile
Exchange. CME said the problem was tied to an outage at a CyrusOne data center.
Treasury yields rose slightly, with the 10-year yield at 4.02%.
In European trading, Germany's DAX rose 0.3% even as a report showed
inflation accelerated more than expected in November and rose to the highest
level since February.
The CAC 40 in France rose 0.3%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 0.2% after data showed Japan's housing
starts rose 3.2% in October from the same period a year ago, the first annual
increase since March.
South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.5% after the country's industrial production
fell 4% month-on-month in October, more than the 1.1% decline in September.
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