Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on November 15, 2023 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Stocks rose on Wednesday after yields briefly fell to their lowest level in two months, and November’s market rally extended into the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 115 points, or 0.3%. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5%.
Three-fifths of stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange rose on Wednesday, signaling an extension of the market rally. The tech-heavy Nasdaq also saw greater participation, with 66% of Nasdaq stocks rising. Areas such as consumer staples and small- and mid-caps, which are laggards in 2023, rose 0.5% on Wednesday, outperforming the broader market.
Meanwhile, the energy sector fell 1% on Wednesday after OPEC postponed a meeting on production cuts originally scheduled for the weekend. APA Corp fell 3.5%, while Marathon Oil, EOG Resources and Devon Energy fell more than 2%.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note briefly fell to 4.369% on Wednesday morning, its lowest level since Sept. 22. It later recovered and was last trading 1 basis point higher at 4.429%.
On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve signaled in its latest meeting minutes that monetary policy will remain tight and gave no indication of a rate cut any time soon. However, investors remain optimistic that the central bank will not raise interest rates at its December meeting, according to trading in Fed funds futures.
Chipmaker Nvidia announced its latest quarterly results after the bell on Tuesday. The company reported adjusted earnings and revenue in the third fiscal quarter that beat expectations, but warned that export restrictions on China would weigh on the fourth fiscal quarter. Shares fell 4.2% on Wednesday.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite ended a five-day winning streak on Tuesday as the rapid November rally took a pause. The Dow also closed lower.
However, the major averages are all still on track for monthly gains. The Nasdaq is up nearly 11% since the start of the month, and the Dow and S&P 500 are up more than 6% and 8%, respectively.
“I would probably lean towards the camp as this rally could last a little longer,” said Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist at Allianz Investment Management. “A soft landing by the Fed [is] is becoming more of a possibility as inflation continues to fall. … With that in mind, I think stocks will continue to perform quite well heading into 2024.”
The New York Stock Exchange is closed Thursday for Thanksgiving and will close early on Friday.