Wall Street holiday: Nasdaq and NYSE close early due to Black Friday; S&P 500 up 25% year-to-date

Wall Street Vacation: US stock markets will close early on Friday, November 29, after opening for a half-day session due to 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 the Thanksgiving holiday.

U.S. stock markets will open for a half-day on November 29, 2024, closing early at 1:00 p.m. EST (Eastern Standard Time). The U.S. bond market will also close at 2:00 p.m. EST on Friday after remaining closed on Thursday. After closing for the Thanksgiving holiday and closing early on Black Friday, Wall Street will be business as usual through the end of December.

The next scheduled U.S. stock market closure is Wednesday, December 25, for Christmas festivities. The US markets are also scheduled to close early on Christmas Eve. Friday is a shortened trading day, however trading hours are shortened on public holidays. US stock markets opened higher on November 29 as traders returned from the Thanksgiving break for the half-day session.

Also read: Wall Street Holiday: Nasdaq and NYSE will be closed on November 28th for the Thanksgiving holiday

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

U.S. stocks joined a global rally on Friday and are set to cap November with Wall Street’s biggest monthly gain in a year on post-election growth hopes, while the dollar rose on the prospect of tighter interest rates in Japan and easing in Europe headed for a weekly loss.

US trade was very thin the day after Thanksgiving. Many investors take the day off for a long weekend. Wall Street closes at 1:00 p.m. EST/1600 GMT and Treasury markets close at 2:00 p.m. and most of the month-end position adjustments were made before the holiday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.34% in early trading, which if sustained would secure its best monthly gain since November 2023, while the Nasdaq Composite is heading for its best month since May if its 0.53% advance continues.

MSCI’s broad index of world stocks was up 0.26% and also looked to have its best month since May.

Investors are eagerly awaiting how willing shoppers are to spend on gifts this holiday season. Black Friday unofficially kicks off the holiday shopping season, although retailers have been offering early deals for weeks. Macy’s rose 1.1% and Best Buy rose 2.8%, while Nordstrom fell 2%.

Apple rose 0.2%. The tech giant hopes the recently added artificial intelligence features will be enough to entice consumers to treat themselves or their relatives to a new iPhone for the holidays.

The Dow is up more than 7% so far this month, easily on pace with its best month of 2024. Walt Disney Co. posted November’s biggest percentage gain of 21.6%, but also the price-weighted index Goldman Sachs rose 17.6% for the month and Salesforce rose more than 13%.

The S&P 500 has risen more than 5% this month, boosted by Tesla and other stocks that were boosted by Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election. Discover Financial Services tops the list of financial stocks having a good November, up 0.6% on Friday and 23.7% for the month, as investors believe the credit card company’s merger with Capital One is a bigger opportunity under Trump has to get through.

Tesla shares rose 2.1% on Friday and have gained more than 33% since Election Day. The electric vehicle maker is expected to benefit from CEO Elon Musk’s support of Trump.

Musk also gave Hasbro shares a boost after sparking takeover speculation when he asked in a post on X how much the toy and gaming company was worth. Hasbro, owner of the role-playing game Dungeon & Dragons, rose 1.7%.

Donald Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory and promises of tax cuts, deregulation and import tariffs have raised investor expectations for U.S. and Wall Street stocks to continue to outperform other regions. US technology stocks are also benefiting from the enthusiasm for investing in artificial intelligence.

Bond yields fell, with the 10-year Treasury yield falling to 4.22%.

Bitcoin, which recently hit $100,000 before falling back, rose back above $98,000.

The price of a barrel of U.S. oil rose 1% to $69.37. OPEC has reportedly postponed a key policy meeting until December 5th.

Global markets mostly fell. 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% the previous month , largely due to an increase in fresh food prices.

Chinese markets made progress. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.3%. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.9%. Gains in retail stocks led market gains after a two-day meeting in Beijing focused on consumer stimulus ended Thursday.