A specialist trader works at his post on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Stocks ticked higher on Friday at the start of a shortened trading day that will cap a strong month for equities.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 155 points, or 0.3%, on track for another record close. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite added 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.
Some of the upward momentum came from chip stocks, which popped after Bloomberg reported that the Biden administration was considering additional barriers on the sale of semiconductor equipment to China that weren’t as strong as previously expected. Applied Materials and Lam Research each rallied than 2 and 3%, respectively, while Nvidia jumped more than 1%.The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) added more than 1%.
Those moves come as traders look to the end of a winning week and month. November trading largely centered on the postelection rally seen on the back of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory.
The Dow has added more than 1% week to date, bringing its gain for November above 7%. That’s the best month for the Dow since November 2023. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite have advanced 0.7% and 0.4%, respectively, on the week. Both are slated to end 2024’s penultimate month higher by more than 5%.
Dow, YTD
The small cap-focused Russell 2000 outperformed in November as investors saw the group benefiting from Trump’s potential tax cuts. The Russell 2000 has surged more than 11% this month, helped by a gain of more than 1% this week.
The stock market was dark on Thursday and closes at 1 p.m. ET on Friday in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. There are no economic data releases or corporate earnings reports of note expected on Friday. Trading is expected to be light.