Stock market today: Markets inch higher on Black Friday to cap off a memorable November
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- Investors added US stocks to their shopping lists on Friday.
- The S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Dow Jones Industrial Average all ended November on a high note.
- Wall Street is optimistic about 2025, even as risks loom.
US stocks started a holiday-shortened session slightly higher, adding an exclamation point to a historic November. Trading ends at 1 p.m. ET on Friday after markets were closed for Thanksgiving.
The S&P 500 ticked up 0.3% shortly after the opening bell, which extended its monthly gain to 5.5% and its year-to-date rise to 26.1%.
That performance was roughly in line with the Nasdaq Composite, as has been the case throughout 2024. A solid 0.5% advance on Friday has the technology-heavy index up 5.9% for the month and 27.6% this year.
Also neck and neck was the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The 30-stock index outpaced its peers in November with a 7.4% surge, capped off by a 0.3% jump Friday that took it close to 44,850 points. For the year, it's up by a more modest 19%.
These gains were a continuation of a ferocious market rally this year that gained steam after Donald Trump won the presidential election.
Wall Street is giddy about the tax cuts and deregulation that Trump has promised, though some have warned that the tariffs he's outlined will be a major headache.
Even still, most strategists say that 2025 should be another excellent year for US equities. Investors seem to agree, judging by this month's rally and eye-popping inflows into exchange-traded funds.
Elsewhere in markets, European stocks — as measured by the STOXX Europe 600 — were little changed and were poised to end the month up just 0.4%.
Chinese stocks did better, as the SSE Composite Index generated the bulk of its 1.4% monthly gain on Friday after rising 0.9%.
Conversely, the Japan's Nikkei 225 ended November in the red, down 2.2% after stumbling through the finish line with a 0.4% slide.