US stocks post record gains in November

U.S. stock markets closed early on Friday after being shut for Thanksgiving. The Dow and S&P 500 hit new record highs in the shortened session. Dow Jones futures rose modestly early Friday.

November 2024 was best month for S&P 500 since November 2023
[Past performance is no guarantee of future results] pic.twitter.com/bdmh23SaBG

— Liz Ann Sonders (@LizAnnSonders) December 2, 2024

S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures also climbed. The indexes fell on Wednesday but came off lows as Treasury yields pulled back. Tech stocks like CrowdStrike and Dell dropped on earnings Wednesday.

"Black Friday officially kicks off an important holiday season for Apple as its flagship iPhone 16 represents the beginning of its Apple Intelligence launch with the release of 18.2 likely next week," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote @CBSNews https://t.co/IwPJsOkMrb 🏆🔥🐂🍿

— Dan Ives (@DivesTech) November 29, 2024

S&P 500 gained 5.7% in Nov, posting the best month of 2024. pic.twitter.com/jBMLjhE4oq

— Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) November 29, 2024

But chip-equipment makers rose on a report that new U.S. export limits on China may be less strict than feared. President-elect Donald Trump said he spoke with Mexico’s president, who agreed to stop illegal border crossings. This eased worries about Trump’s threats of tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. The Dow sank 0.3% Wednesday, the S&P 500 lost 0.4% and the Nasdaq retreated 0.6%. But the indexes are up for the week, near all-time highs. Nvidia stock fell 1.15% Wednesday. It’s struggled since briefly hitting a record high on Nov. 21 post-earnings. Guidance was only slightly above views, though Nvidia touted its new Blackwell AI chip. The stock market rally is acting well, with broad-based gains.

Stocks achieve record gains in November

Small and midcap stocks are leading, along with financials, homebuilders and many nontech names. Investors should focus on what’s working rather than just tech. After being closed on Thanksgiving, markets will have shortened hours on Black Friday. The next full closure is on Christmas, with an early close on Christmas Eve. On Friday, the Dow jumped nearly 200 points to a record high. The S&P 500 had its best month of 2024. Chip stocks rallied on hopes of looser China restrictions. About 3 in 5 S&P 500 stocks rose Friday. The Dow climbed 1.4% for the week and 7.5% in November. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each added over 1% this week and 5-6% for the month. An analyst said it’s “hard to fade this bull market” given tailwinds like the election being over. Expectations of Fed rate cuts are also boosting stocks. There hasn’t been a 10%+ market correction yet in 2024, which is unusual. The S&P 500 is on track for its best year since 2021, up 26%. Some predict stocks could peak before Trump’s January inauguration. But others see more gains ahead, with one firm eyeing the S&P 500 reaching 6,300 by year-end.