The Dow Jones Industrial Average led the way on Thursday as the big three indexes wrapped up a stellar November.
The Dow was up 520 points, or 1.5%. The S&P 500 was up 0.4%. The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.2%.
All three snapped a three-month losing streak. The Dow locked in its highest close of the year, and the Dow and S&P 500 locked in their best months of 2023. The Nasdaq Composite had its best month since January.
The day kicked off with an encouraging reading from the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure. The core personal-consumption expenditures price index was up 3.5% year over year in October, which was in line with expectations. It served as yet another encouraging sign for traders hoping the Federal Reserve will start thinking about cutting interest rates in the coming months.
Oil prices spiked, then fell, as traders reacted to the latest production cuts from OPEC+. WTI crude oil futures were down 2.3% to $76.04 a barrel.
The 10-year Treasury yield, which peaked around 5% in October, was at 4.368% on Thursday. It ticked higher after falling below 4.3% this week.
“Stocks were up strongly premarket and then the Chicago PMI number came in way above expectations, the highest in 18 months, interest rates jumped and so did the VIX, and stocks came in,” writes Navellier & Associates founder Louis Navellier.
The market will look to keep the gains rolling in December, which is historically a friendly month for markets—especially the final days.