Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, USA, October 26, 2023.
Brendan Mcdermid | Portal
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on Friday as major averages snapped 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 rose 0.06% to close at 4,559.34. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.11% to close at 14,250.85.
Trading in major retail stocks was mixed as Black Friday ushered in the holiday shopping season. Walmart gained 0.9% while Amazon gained 0.02%.
“Based on our controls, we forecast flat traffic trends this Black Friday as a price-conscious consumer pulls back and prioritizes gifts for others over themselves,” Oliver Chen, retail analyst at TD Cowen, wrote in a note.
For the week, the Dow gained 1.3%, while the S&P 500 gained 1%. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.9% in this period. It’s the fourth consecutive positive week for the major averages – the longest for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq since June. The Dow, meanwhile, hasn’t posted such a long weekly rise since April.
The moves come as Treasury yields hit multi-month lows this week on hopes that inflation is cooling and the Federal Reserve may be done raising interest rates. The key interest rate rose by 6 basis points to around 4.476% on Friday.
“Market expectations for interest rate volatility continue to collapse,” said Scott Ladner, chief investment officer at Horizon Investments. “This shows us that the market is finally comfortable with the idea that … 4% to 5% interest rates is the right level for 2024 across the curve that the stock market can handle.”
The US stock market closed at 1 p.m. On Wednesday, major averages closed higher after the 10-year Treasury yield fell to levels not seen since September.