U.S. stocks moved higher in again Friday, putting the S&P 500 on pace for its best monthly gain since February, as investors extended bets an an end-of-year rally tied to growth and inflation optimism in the world's biggest economy.
Updated at 11:08 AM EDT
Record ending
Stocks are extending gains into the final hours of the holiday-shortened session, with the S&P 500 hitting a fresh intra-day high of 6,031.55 points and last marked 31.5 points, or 0.53% higher, from Wednesday's last close.
Intra-day highs were also seen for the Russell 2000, which is up 21.3% for the year, while the Dow is now within 80 points of the 45,000 point mark. The Nasdaq was last seen 133 points, or 0.7% higher on the day.
In the most mark, benchmark 10-year note yields are holding at 4.209% while 2-year paper has dipped to 4.187% in relatively light trading volume.
Updated at 9:36 AM EDT
Green start to Black Friday
The S&P 500 was marked 11 points or 0.18% higher in the opening minutes of trading, with the Nasdaq rising 11 points, or 0.05%.
The Dow was marked he mid-cap Russell 2000, meanwhile, gained 19 points or 0.8%.
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Trading volumes are likely to remain muted through the holiday-shortened session, however, with a closing bell set for 1:00 pm Eastern time following the Thursday Thanksgiving break.
Stocks are riding solid gains into the final month of the year, with the S&P 500 having booked a 5.1% gain in November and holding onto a 2024 advance of around 25.8%.
Bond markets are rallying this morning, as well, following inflation data earlier this week that was largely in-line with Wall Street forecasts and a series of appointments to President-elect Donald Trump's economic team that suggest he could be dissuaded from the worst of his trade and tariff policies.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields were last marked at 4.205% in overnight trading, around 6 basis points lower than Wednesday levels, while 2-year notes eased to 4.192% heading into the start of the New York trading session.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global currencies, slipped 0.19% to 105.941, putting it on pace for its biggest weekly decline in three months.
On Wall Street, investors are likely to focus on data from Black Friday shopping events as they measure the strength of the U.S. consumer heading into the crucial holiday season.
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The National Retail Federation sees spending rising to a record $902 per person over the two months ending on New Year's Eve, with the overall 2024 tally rising 3.8% from last year's total of $964.4 billion.
Heading into the start of the trading day, futures contracts tied to the S&P 500 suggest a 16 point opening bell gain, with the Nasdaq called 75 points higher and the Dow Jones Industrial Average priced for a 140 point boost.
In Europe, the region-wide Stoxx 600 was marked 0.09% higher in Frankfurt while Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.03% in London.
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Much of the market's attention, however, was focused on movements in the government bond market, where French bond yields continue to rise amid the country's ongoing budget crisis that could lead to a no-confidence vote for President Emmanuel Macron's center-left government.
Overnight in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 ended 0.37% lower in Tokyo following inflation data for the month of November that could trigger a Bank of Japan rate hike before the end of the year, lifting the yen to a six-week high of 150.03 against the U.S. dollar.
The regional MSCI ex-Japan benchmark, meanwhile, slipped 0.07% lower into the close of trading.
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