Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., October 26, 2023.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on Friday, as the major averages notched a four-week winning streak.
The 30-stock Dow rose 117.12 points, or 0.33%, to 35,390.15. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 ticked higher by 0.06% to end at 4,559.34. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.11%, closing at 14,250.85.
Major retail shares rose slightly as Black Friday kicked off the holiday shopping season. Walmart and Target rose 0.9% and 0.74%, respectively, while Amazon ticked higher by 0.02%.
"Based on our checks, we forecast flat traffic trends this Black Friday as a budget-conscious consumer pulls back and prioritizes gifts for others vs. self," wrote TD Cowen retail analyst Oliver Chen in a note.
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For the week, the Dow gained 1.27%, while the S&P 500 advanced 1%. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.89% in that time. It's the fourth consecutive positive week for the major averages — the longest for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq since June. The Dow, meanwhile, hasn't posted a weekly run this long since April.
The moves come as Treasury yields this week hit multimonth lows on hope inflation is cooling and the Federal Reserve may be done raising rates. The benchmark rate was up 6 basis points at around 4.476% on Friday.
"The market's expectation for the volatility of interest rates is continuing to collapse," said Scott Ladner, chief investment officer at Horizon Investments. "That's telling us that the market is coming on board finally with this idea that ... 4% to 5% rates is the right level for 2024 across the curve, that the equity market can handle.""
Money Report
The U.S. stock market closed at 1 p.m. On Wednesday, the major averages closed higher after the 10-year Treasury yield fell to levels not seen since September.
Stocks close higher Friday
U.S. stocks closed in the green on Friday, marking four straight weeks of gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 117.12 points, or 0.33%. The S&P 500 added 0.06%, while the Nasdaq Composite inched down 0.11%.
— Hakyung Kim
Stocks making the biggest moves midday
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.
Nvidia — Nvidia shares fell 1.7%. Reuters, citing sources, reported that Nvidia notified its China clients that it will delay until next year a new artificial intelligence chip designed to comply with U.S. export restrictions.
Fisker — Shares of the electric vehicle start-up jumped 5%. On Wednesday, the company announced that it filed a delayed quarterly report. The original report was pushed back earlier this month due to accounting personnel changes. Fisker also announced changes to its finance leadership team.
First Solar, SolarEdge — The solar panel manufacturer declined 3% on Friday, while SolarEdge fell about 1%. The Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) dropped more than 1%, as the 10-year Treasury yield ticked higher. Renewable energy stocks have slumped this quarter as higher interest rates have increased project financing costs.
— Hakyung Kim
CNBC Pro: Wall Street is set to wrap up a strong month next week
Wall Street is set to wrap up a strong month in the week ahead. Crucially, the S&P 500 is near key resistance levels at 4,600. A breakthrough past the best levels of this year and last could mean the broader index is clear to reach new highs before the year's out, though concerns remain. The S&P 500 was last trading around 4,560.
"I think that we do end up possibly setting a new all-time high," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. "It's not that bold of a forecast. ... That's easily within striking distance."
CNBC Pro subscribers can read the full report here.
— Sarah Min
Consumers can be more patient this year as holiday shopping begins, Dana Telsey says
Christmas landing on a Monday this year means consumers have more room to be patient when holiday shopping, according to Telsey Group CEO Dana Telsey.
"[F]rom the consumer standpoint, being out and being together, getting an experience that makes them excited about looking forward to something, that's what's going to drive things," Telsey told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Friday. "You've got a consumer that can wait this year with Christmas on a Monday, [and] procrastinators can wait all they want."
Telsey also pointed to clothing retailers including Ralph Lauren and Abercrombie as some of the firms "driving innovation," as well as shoe company Deckers.
— Brian Evans
Bullishness at almost 4-month high among retail investors; bearishness at 4-month low
Individual investor bullishness about the outlook for stocks over the next six months climbed again for a third week, to 45.3% from 43.8%, according to the latest survey from the American Association of Individual Investors. That marked the highest level of optimism since August 2, or almost four months ago.
Bullishness stayed above the historical average of 37.5% for a third consecutive week.
Conversely, retail investor bearishness dropped to 23.6% in the latest week, down from 28.1% — the lowest level of pessimism also since Aug. 2 and also the third week in a row that bearish views were below the long-term, historical average of 31.0%. Neutral opinion rose to 31.1% from 28.1%, the highest since mid-October.
The latest survey isn't great news for contrarians who try and bet against the market, believing that lofty bullishness means a lot of investor stock purchases have already been made and there's less cash on the sidelines that will be willing to commit to stocks.
— Scott Schnipper
Chipotle among stocks hitting new all-time highs
More than a dozen S&P 500 components were trading at all time highs on Friday morning.
Here are some of the notable names setting new high water marks:
- Chipotle Mexican Grill trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO in January 2006
- Aflac trading at all-time high levels back through our history in 1973 Linde trading at its all-time highs back to Praxair's spin-off from Union Carbide in June 1992
- Ingersoll-Rand trading at all-time high levels back through our history to 1972
- Progressive trading at all-time highs back to its IPO in 1971
- Visa trading at all-time high levels since its IPO in March 2008
— Jesse Pound, Christopher Hayes
Dow heads for first 4-week win streak since April, boosted by Boeing
The Dow is on track to post its longest weekly winning streak in about half of a year.
With just a few hours left in Friday's shortened trading day, the blue-chip index is poised to finish the week up nearly 1%. If that holds, it would mark the first time the index has notched four straight winning weeks since a streak that ended in April.
A chunk of this week's gains are tied to a rally of more than 6% in Boeing. Investors first cheered a Deutsche Bank upgrade to buy from hold on Monday. On Wednesday, the airplane maker receiving clearance to start flight testing for 737 MAX 10 certification.
Verizon and Travelers were the next best performers on the week, climbing around 3.4% and 3%, respectively. But Walgreens and Caterpillar restricted gains for the 30-stock index, with both down more than 2% this week.
— Alex Harring
Shoppers snagged toys, jewelry and other gifts as Thanksgiving sales hit record $5.6 billion
Many national retailers kept their stores shuttered on Thursday, but that didn't mean consumers weren't shopping. In fact, Adobe Analytics reports online spending hit a record $5.6 billion on Thanksgiving, up 5.5% year over year. The firm, which tracks more than 85% of the top 100 internet retailers in the U.S., anticipates spending on Black Friday will reach $9.6 billion, which would be about 5.7% higher than the same day last year.
Adobe said toys has been selling well, with sales in the category up 182% year over year. Jewelry also has seen big demand (up 126%) and apparel (up 124%), it said.
The SPDR S&P Retail ETF was flat ahead of a shortened trading session on Friday.
The big question will be what happens after this five-day period known for its deals and promotions. Analysts expect consumers to be very focused on value, which means they will be hunting for bargains. Retailers are planning events as one strategy to reel in reluctant consumers.
—Christina Cheddar Berk
Walmart and Ulta are Black Friday picks, Cowen managing director says
Walmart and Ulta are well positioned as Black Friday kicks off, according to Cowen managing director Oliver Chen.
"This is a holiday about value, about gift giving," he said. "They are our Black Friday picks, as well. We notice the best traffic there, as well."
Chen said Walmart is worth owning given its emphasis on value and work on artificial intelligence. Its place as a large grocer is also a plus when looking defensively, he said.
He said Ulta is also a good pick because of its focus on beauty, which can be considered an "essential."
Still, Chen said he was cautious on the consumer discretionary sector.
— Alex Harring
Stocks open flat Friday
Stocks opened little changed Friday
The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 47 points, or 0.1%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite inched down 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively.
— Hakyung Kim
'Stunned' oil markets seek order in price 'carnage' after OPEC+ delay
Oil markets were volatile this week as traders looked to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries for answers on the supply side, only to be let down by the delay of key meeting.
U.S. crude had rallied Monday on anticipation that OPEC and its allies, OPEC+, would implement additional production cuts on at a meeting Sunday.
But prices tumbled as much as 5% intraday on Wednesday after OPEC delayed that meeting until next week as members struggle to convince African nations to accept production targets.
"The oil suite remains rather stunned after the cancellation of Saudi Sunday," wrote John Evans with PVM Oil Associates in a Friday note.
Oil clawed back those losses and markets have been muted with the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. providing something of a quiet period.
The West Texas Intermediate contract for January was down 63 cents at $76.47 a barrel Friday, while Brent was up 5 cents at $81.47 a barrel.
"Some of the crazy has left the market as those that imbibe in oil trading indulge in a prolonged bout of navel gazing, seeking to find order among the shared carnage that the price action has endured," Evans said.
But the slowdown in business activity in Europe has emphasized softness on the demand side, which won't make OPEC's job any easier when they do meet virtually Thursday, according to PVM.
"The likelihood of new demand coming from the continent is tantamount to zero giving more reason to be wary for oil investors and another layer of headache for OPEC," Evans wrote.
-- Spencer Kimball
Bitcoin rises to new high for the year on Friday, hitting $38,000
Bitcoin touched $38,001.71 around 6:45 a.m. Eastern time, marking the first time since April 2022, according to Coin Metrics. It was last higher by about 1.5% at $37,863.25 and on pace to end the week higher by 4%.
Meanwhile, ether has moved back above the key psychological level of $2,000, last trading nearly 2% higher at $2,105.65. The second largest token by market cap is outperforming the crypto market this week, on pace to end up more than 8%.
Solana, the big outperformer on the year – up 480% compared to bitcoin's 130% – trailed the major tokens this week. It's heading for a gain of less than 1%.
— Tanaya Macheel
Stocks making the biggest moves premarket
Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:
iRobot — The stock surged 30% after a Reuters report, citing sources familiar with the matter, said Amazon is about to win regulatory approval in the European Union to move forward with its $1.4 billion acquisition of the robot vacuum maker.
Nvidia — Nvidia shares fell 1.8% after Reuters, citing sources familiar, reported the chipmaker told its China clients it will be delaying the chip designed to comply with U.S. export restrictions until next year.
Apple — Shares fell slightly by 0.2% after a Reuters report, citing data from Counterpoint Research, said Apple saw a drop in smartphone sales during China's recent Singles Day.
The full list can be found here.
— Hakyung Kim
Major averages head for fourth-straight winning week
The major U.S. market indexes are on track for their fourth straight positive week.
The Dow is up 0.93% for the week, and this would be its first four-week winning streak since April.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are up 0.94% and 0.99% for the week. It would be the first four-week streak for both of those indexes since June.
Microsoft has been the most impactful stock in all three averages, up 2.3% for the week.
— Jesse Pound, Christopher Hayes
Nvidia shares fall after report says company delaying new China-focused AI chip
Shares of Nvidia dropped more than 1% in the premarket after Reuters reported, citing sources, that the company has delayed the launch of a new AI chip for the Chinese market.
The new H20 chip is being delayed due to server manufacturers having trouble integrating the semiconductor into their products, Reuters reported. This also comes after the U.S. government last month tightened export controls on AI chips to China.
— Fred Imbert
Dow futures tick higher on Friday
Dow futures led the way in early trading Friday, rising more than 80 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures were also up 0.1%, while Nasdaq-100 futures were about flat.
— Fred Imbert
