Stocks Rise in Shortened Session



Stocks ticked higher on Friday at the start of a shortened trading day that will cap a strong month for equities.

The Dow Jones Industrials marched ahead once again, 117.45 points to 44,840.04

The S&P 500 Index recovered 21.51 points to 6,020.25.

The NASDAQ Composite recaptured 90.55 points to 19,151.02.

The Dow has added more than 1% week to date, bringing its gain for November above 7%. That’s the best month for the Dow since November 2023. The S&P 500 picked up 0.7% and NASDAQ Composite has advanced 0.4%, on the week. Both are slated to end 2024's penultimate month higher by more than 5%.

Applied Materials gained 2% and Lam Research rallied 3%, while Nvidia jumped more than 1%.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury jumped, lowering yields to 4.20% from Wednesday’s 4.25%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices gained 71 cents to $69.43 U.S. a barrel.

Prices for gold jumped $15.20 an ounce to $2,680 U.S.