Trading Day: Bulls in charge ahead of Turkey Day

NEW YORK, Nov 26 (Reuters) – Jamie is enjoying some well-deserved time off, but the Reuters markets team will still keep you up to date on what animated markets today. I’d love to hear from you so please feel free to reach out at saqib.ahmed@thomsonreuters.com, opens new tab

Today’s Key Market Moves

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  • On Wall Street the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab and tech-heavy Nasdaq (.IXIC), opens new tab were up about 0.7% and 0.8%, respectively. The Dow was 0.7% higher
  • U.S. Treasury yields were mixed on Wednesday as stronger-than-expected economic data fueled selling but a sharp rally in UK government bonds helped limit the downside ,
  • The dollar fell against the euro but appreciated against the battered Japanese yen
  • New York crude oil futures rose, pulling away from near one-month lows
  • Gold bullion extended its rise to a near two-week high

Today’s Key Reads

Wall St extends rally on growing bets for December Fed rate cut
Small US retailers face holiday supply chaos due to Trump tariffs
World’s central banks are wary of AI and struggling to quit the dollar, survey shows
US weekly jobless claims at seven-month low as layoffs remain low
UK’s Reeves comes back for more tax to bolster finances

It’s all about the Fed

Wall Street kept the party going for a fourth straight session, with investors betting that the Fed will deliver a rate cut in December.
Tech stocks led the bounce after getting hammered in mid-November. Dell’s bullish AI-server forecasts helped lead the charge. The market action proved once again that “buy the dip” is alive and well on Wall Street.

AI-heavyweight Nvidia rebounded from a 2.6% drop in the prior session and declines in three of the past four, to rise more than 1% on Wednesday.

Keep this up and the S&P 500 could avoid breaking its impressive six-month winning streak.

Expectations for rate cuts have been reinforced in recent days after comments from San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly and Fed Governor Christopher Waller in support of a December cut.

This even as fresh data showed the job market is holding up just fine — which means the Fed has less reason to rush those rate cuts. Jobless claims actually fell to a seven-month low last week.

For now, the economy is pulling off a neat balancing act: not crashing, but just soft enough to give the Fed room to keep cutting rates.

Still, investors would do well to remember that Friday’s short trading session could spring a surprise. Thin crowds and low liquidity can make for wild swings in either direction. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Initial claims
Continuing claims
Continuing claims
A line chart with the title 'What will the Federal Reserve do with interest rates?'
A line chart with the title ‘What will the Federal Reserve do with interest rates?’

What could move markets tomorrow?

(U.S. markets are closed on Thursday, November 27, for Thanksgiving Day)

  • Statistics Canada is set to release third-quarter gross domestic product data.
Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, opens new tab, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.
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Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in New York, editing by Deepa Babington

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