4:20pm: Bessent boosts confidence
Markets kicked off the holiday-shortened week on a high note, buoyed by optimism over President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of Scott Bessent as Treasury secretary.
The Dow Jones surged 1% to reach a new record close of 44,737 points. The S&P 500 gained 0.3% at 5,987, supported by strength across key sectors, while the Nasdaq also climbed 0.3%, shrugging off a 4% slide in Nvidia to finish at 19,055 points.
Small-cap stocks outperformed, with the Russell 2000 rising 1.6% and briefly hitting an intraday record before finishing just shy of its all-time closing high of 2,442.
The rally extended last week’s momentum, driven by a generally upbeat market mood. Investors were encouraged by Bessent’s nomination, which seemed to temper concerns over the president-elect’s inflationary policy proposals. This was reflected in the bond market, as the 10-year Treasury yield dipped below 4.3%.
Markets are set to pause for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, with an early close scheduled for Friday. Still, focus remains on inflation data ahead of the Federal Reserve’s December policy meeting. The release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index on Wednesday, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, is expected to show a modest uptick in core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices.
Elsewhere, bitcoin (BTC-USD) remained volatile after a staggering near-50% surge over the past month. The cryptocurrency retreated below $95,000 on Monday, as traders eyed the psychological $100,000 threshold.
3:42: MicroStrategy makes another significant Bitcoin purchase
MicroStrategy, which has positioned itself as a Bitcoin proxy since 2020, saw its shares fall 4.8% in the morning after the firm made its largest Bitcoin acquisition yet.
According to a regulatory finding, the group spent $5.4 billion to purchase 55,000 Bitcoin between November 18 and 24 at an average price of $97,862 per Bitcoin. The purchase was funded through convertible notes and share sales.
As of November 24, the company held 386,700 Bitcoin, valued at $36.67 billion at a Bitcoin price of $95,000, with an average acquisition cost of $56,761 per Bitcoin.
MicroStrategy's stock is up 485% this year, driven by Bitcoin’s rising price.
2:22pm: Dow on a positive trajectory
Indices started the week strong, but oil prices have come under pressure following news of a ceasefire in Lebanon, says Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at the online trading platform IG.
Beauchamp said there is a "very real possibility" that the Dow will surpass 45,000 by the end of November.
"Thanksgiving week is generally positive for US markets anyway, but they have an extra spring in their step as the holiday approaches," Beauchamp commented.
"Reports of a possible ceasefire in Lebanon have bolstered risk appetite too, though it has done little for oil and gold, both of which seem poised for more losses.”
12:42pm: Dow reaches new record
The Dow Jones hit intraday record highs, rising 0.6% or about 250 points, amid optimism over President-elect Donald Trump's Treasury Secretary pick, Scott Bessent.
Investors were also awaiting an inflation report favored by the Federal Reserve.
The S&P 500 stayed near flat, while the Nasdaq Composite reversed earlier gains, impacted by a 3% drop in Nvidia shares.
The stock market began a holiday-shortened week on a positive note, continuing the momentum from last week.
11:52am: Inflation risks loom as markets eye Fed’s next steps
This week, financial markets will focus on inflation data, Fed minutes, and signals on economic policy under the incoming administration.
Deutsche Bank expects October's core PCE inflation to rise to 2.81% annually, reinforcing expectations of sticky inflation. The bank predicts a 25-basis-point Fed rate cut in December but highlights potential for an extended pause above 4% into 2026.
Growth is forecast to accelerate to 2.5% in 2025, supported by tax cuts and deregulation, but rising tariffs could weigh on momentum.
Key data, including consumer confidence, durable goods orders, and trade balance, will shape the near-term economic outlook.
11.05am: Russell 2000 and Dow in the lead
The S&P 500 has eased off after hitting a record high of just over 6,020 in early trading, now up 0.4% at just under 6,000.
Likewise the Nasdaq Composite, also up 0.4% but a bit of a way from its zenith earlier this month.
Not so the Russell 2000, which is continuing to surge higher, up 2.3% to 2,461.88. This adds to its
Top riser on the Russ is Rigetti Computing Inc, up 83.3% after successful completion of a $100 million at-the-market equity offering.
Other risers include biotechs Scholar Rock Holding and BridgeBio Pharma, up either side of 30%, Archer Aviation, Eastman Kodak, and Coherus BioSciences (NASDAQ:CHRS).
The Russell 2000 is up around 12% over the past month.
On the Dow Jones, top riser is Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC, ETR:INL), even though the long-toothed chipmaker is losing half a billion dollars in government subsidies under US president Joe Biden’s CHIPS act, according to a New York Times report.
Having been the greatest benefactor of the act, which allocated $39 billion in federal funding to enhance the US’s domestic chipmaking capabilities, the NYT’s report suggests Intel’s $8.5 billion subsidy package is being reduced to $8 billion.
10.47am: Dollar and bitcoin tumble
The US dollar is giving back some of its considerable gains from recent weeks today, down 0.5% versus the pound and almost 1% lower against the euro.
It was the biggest decline for the US dollar index in over two weeks, with the buck having climbed for eight straight weeks to gain over 5.0%.
"Treasury yields dropped while stocks futures are content with news that the incoming Trump administration will feature Wall-Street veteran Scott Bessent as US Treasury Secretary," said currency analysts at Monex.
"The move has been interpreted as a wise one that can ease concerns about tariffs and other fiscal items."
Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index, said the selling of the dollar was a slight cooling off in the so-called "Trump Trade".
It was not therefore a big surprise then that Bitcoin, a staple of headlines since the Trump win, fell from almost $99K to around $95K, having seemingly recovered from a wobble at the weekend.
Investors in most crypto have enjoyed big gains throughout all of November in anticipation of Trump creating favourable new laws for digital currencies.
This "may not last very long", said Razakzada.
"Scott Bessent’s nomination has alleviated concerns over Trump’s potentially inflationary policies, which had triggered a selloff in government bonds and pushed Treasury yields to a four-month high last week.
"What a difference a weekend makes. Now, we are seeing the opposite of that trade. While Bessent is expected to support Trump’s tax and tariff plans, investors anticipate his focus will remain on maintaining economic and market stability.
"But let’s not jump into any conclusions. Trump will have the final say in anything he decides."
He feels it is "by no means the end of the bullish trend" for the USD.
"Traders have been betting on Trump’s fiscal policies, including sweeping trade tariffs and measures to boost economic growth... The momentum is thus quite strong and so this dollar weakness may prove to be short-lived, preventing the EUR/USD forecast from turning bullish just yet."
10.32am: What to look out for this week
This holiday-shortened workweek, where markets will be closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving Day holiday, will contain several key economic releases.
"Markets will likely focus on the minutes of the Fed’s November meeting," says Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank. The minutes are released on Tuesday.
"Data released since the Fed last published forecasts in September show a resilient economy and persistent inflation, calling into question whether the Fed will reduce rates as quickly as they projected in those forecasts."
Also on Tuesday, there is includes key housing data and consumer confidence figures.
the Core PCE Price Index. GDP updates and durable goods orders will also highlight economic growth trends.
Wednesday includes the PCE and GDP price indexes, durable goods orders and a further second-quarter GDP reading.
"Third quarter GDP and the GDP price index, the broadest barometer of price changes in the economy, will probably both be unrevised in the second estimate," says Adams.
"Personal incomes, consumer spending, and both headline and core PCE inflation are likely to have increased at around the same pace in October as in September.
"Pending and new home sales probably fell after robust increases in September. Home listings rose in September and likely contributed to more moderate house price increases."
9.55am: Dow Jones hits new record high
Wall Street stocks have charged higher at the start of the week.
The Dow Jones and Russell 2000 led the gains, with the former climbing to up 1.1% to over 44,900 for the first time and the latter rising 1.6%.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 advanced 0.7% to notch its own record high too, and the Nasdaq 0.8%.
On the S&P, the highest riser was Super Micro Computer Inc, which surged 11.3% higher, followed by MRN vaccine maker Moderna Inc,
Macy's is down 4.1% after it delayed its earnings due to a possible fraud after the retailer found an employee had hidden more than $132 million of delivery expenses since late 2021.
7.30am: Dow and Nasdaq to rise as Trump Treasury pick get warm welcome
US stocks are being tipped to march higher on Monday in a sign that markets approve of President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary, hedge fund manager Scott Bessent.
His nomination was announced after the close of US trading on Friday, following a week where the S&P 500 rose 1.6%, while the Dow Jones made a fresh record high on Friday.
Since then, US government bond yields have softened, while the dollar surged following the announcement, with the DXY dollar index spiking to a two-year high above 108 points but is down from there this morning.
Ahead of the open, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were up 0.5% and 0.6% respectively, while Dow Jones futures rose 0.7% and those for the Russell 2000 were just above flat.
Bessent, a hedge fund CEO, is "known to be a fiscal hawk so this should ease some of the more extreme deficit fears as he has advocated a 3% deficit by 2028", says Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid, who said "for now the market can be a bit relieved."
Bessent is seen as less extreme on trade tariffs policy than some of his rivals for the job, and has told financial press that Trump's tariff policy position could be changed after negotiations with various countries.
A week ago Elon Musk suggested he disapproved of the appointment of the former George Soros adviser, saying it would amount to "business-as-usual".
As bonds have sold off, with short positions rising, "there could be a rapid reversal" on the back of the Bessant news, said market analyst Katheleen Brooks at XTB.
But fresh CFTC data showed a skew towards dollar buying, while net flows into equities were muted, which suggested that "the market could be happy to take a pause as we lead up to the Thanksgiving holiday".
In earnings news today, Bath & Body Works’ stock has soared 10% pre-market after earnings beat expectations and guidance was raised.
There are results due from Zoom Video Communications Inc (NASDAQ:ZM) and diagnostics group Agilent after the closing bell later.