CNBC Daily Open: Thanksgiving cheer comes a day early for U.S. markets

Thanksgiving in the U.S. takes place on Thursday stateside, but the feasting might have begun a day early for investors. The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite all recorded a fourth straight day of gains.

Shares of Oracle, which have been hobbling along in November after wiping out its one-day spike in September, advanced roughly 4% after Deutsche Bank said that its recent price pullback “presents an attractive entry point for investors when looking at Oracle’s business in totality.” Other technology and AI-related stocks, such as Nvidia and Microsoft, rose in sympathy.

“Thanksgiving week is generally a strong week in the markets. Everyone’s feeling good,” said Eric Diton, president and managing director at The Wealth Alliance.

It’s what happens after Thanksgiving that might cause some pause.

The futures market is now pricing in a roughly 85% chance the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point in December. When expectations are too high — and not met — disappointment will be all the more painful.

“If the Fed disappoints, you could have a sell-off,” Diton said — but added, “I don’t think they will.”

And if White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett does assume the role of Fed chair when Jerome Powell vacates his seat, rates could trend even lower in the future, wrote Bank of America economist Aditya Bhave.

Looser monetary policy tends to provide more support for stocks — that notion seems to be behind optimistic targets for the S&P 500 by the end of 2026. So far, the numbers that have been floated are 7,400 from CFRA Chief Investment Strategist Sam Stovall, and as high as 8,000 from JPMorgan.

Investors indeed have much to be thankful for in 2025 — and possibly the next year as well.

Fourth straight day of gains for U.S. stocks. Major indexes closed higher on Wednesday, lifted by technology firms such as Oracle and Nvidia. Asia-Pacific markets advanced Thursday. India’s Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex climbed to record highs.

Apple’s smartphone shipments to overtake Samsung. The company will ship around 243 million iPhones this year, higher than the 235 million smartphones from Samsung, Counterpoint Research wrote. It’d be the first time in 14 years Apple will outstrip its rival.

China’s industrial profits decline in October. Earnings dropped 5.5% from a year earlier, the biggest slide since June, according to the country’s National Bureau of Statistics. Trade tensions with the U.S. pressured China’s exports in October.

AI can replace 11.7% of U.S. workforce, MIT says. That’s equivalent to $1.2 trillion in wages across finance, health care and professional services. The study, which was released Wednesday by the university, created a simulation of 151 million U.S. workers.

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