On Friday, November 29, U.S. markets closed higher, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones reaching record highs during a shortened Black Friday session. The rally was fueled by strong performances in the technology and retail sectors, with gains in major tech stocks and a rebound in chip stocks driving momentum. Retail shares climbed as the holiday shopping season kicked off, supported by robust consumer spending projections.

Investors weighed optimism over strong sales and pro-business policies against concerns about inflation and the Federal Reserve’s anticipated rate cut in December.

S&P 500 sectors closed higher, led by technology, materials, and consumer discretionary stocks, while real estate and utilities lagged, ending the session lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.42% and closed at 44,910.65, the S&P 500 gained 0.56% to 6,032.40, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.83% to finish at 19,218.17.

Asia Markets Today

• On Monday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.92% and ended the session at 38,500.50, led by gains in the Gas & Water, Banking and Retail sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.14% and ended the day at 8,447.90, led by gains in the IT, Consumer Discretionary and Energy sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 rose 0.59% to 24,272.75, and the Nifty 500 gained 0.66%, closing at 22,835.65. The gains were led by gains in the Real Estate, Consumer Durables, and Metals sectors.
• China’s Shanghai Composite gained 1.13% to close at 3,363.98, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 rose 0.79%, finishing the day at 3,947.63.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.65% and closed the session at 19,550.29.

Eurozone at 05:30 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was up 0.06%.
• Germany’s DAX rose 0.58%.
• France’s CAC declined 0.34%.
• FTSE 100 index traded higher by 0.04%.

Commodities at 05:30 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.90% at $68.63/bbl, and Brent was up 0.90% at $72.49/bbl.
• Oil prices rose driven by strong Chinese factory activity and escalating Middle East tensions.
• Natural Gas slipped 5.98% to $3.162.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.81% at $2,659.16, Silver was down 1.20% to $30.735, and Copper slid 0.42% to $4.1227.

U.S. Futures at 05:30 AM ET

• Dow futures were down 0.13%, S&P 500 futures were down 0.19%, and Nasdaq 100 futures slid 0.19%.
• U.S. futures dipped as December begins, with jobs data and Fed comments in focus. Stellantis shares plunged after CEO Carlos Tavares resigned.

Forex at 05:30 AM ET

• The U.S. dollar index rose 0.54% to 106.32, the USD/JPY rose 0.40% to 150.35, and the USD/AUD gained 0.33% to 1.5406.
• The U.S. dollar gained strength with the dollar index rising, driven by resilient U.S. economic data, political uncertainty in France, and President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff threats.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock