Wall Street Edges Higher in Thin Post-Holiday Trade as Retail and Tech Lift Sentiment

Contents

US Stocks Climb as Rate-Cut Hopes Strengthen and Tech Recovers Indices Log Weekly Gains, Though Nasdaq Still Ends the Month Lower CME Outage Briefly Halts Futures Trading, Exposing Market Vulnerabilities Retail Sector in Focus as Holiday Shopping Season Begins A Calm Session Caps a Strong Week for Wall Street

Wall Street edged higher on Friday in a quiet, shortened trading session following the Thanksgiving holiday, with US stocks climbing as investors returned to the markets encouraged by renewed optimism for a potential Federal Reserve rate cut in December. Despite low volumes, major indices advanced steadily through the day, buoyed by strength in retail counters and a notable rebound in select technology names.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.61% to 47,716.42, while the S&P 500 gained 0.54% to 6,849.09. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.65% to close at 23,365.69, helped by broad buying in semiconductor and AI-linked stocks.

US Stocks Climb as Rate-Cut Hopes Strengthen and Tech Recovers

Market sentiment remained firm throughout the holiday-shortened week, as expectations of a December Fed rate cut strengthened, reinforcing the belief that monetary tightening may finally be coming to an end. The tempered inflation prints earlier this month and cooling labour market signals have further boosted hopes of a more accommodative policy stance.

The gains on Friday were largely carried by retail and technology shares — sectors sensitive to shifts in interest-rate expectations. All S&P 500 sectors closed higher except healthcare, which was dragged down by a nearly 2.6% fall in Eli Lilly, despite its strong year-to-date performance.

Semiconductors powered a chunk of the market optimism. Intel surged 10.2%, leading the S&P 500, after TF International Securities forecast that Intel may begin shipping Apple’s lowest-end M-series processors by 2027. The report helped lift sentiment across chipmakers, which had been struggling with valuation concerns in recent weeks.

Also Read : India Set to Lead Emerging Markets With 7% GDP Growth in 2025, Says Moody’s

Indices Log Weekly Gains, Though Nasdaq Still Ends the Month Lower

Despite the light trading volumes, the three key US indices still recorded strong weekly performances:

S&P 500: +3.73%
Nasdaq Composite: +4.91%
Dow Jones: +3.18%

Friday’s uptick pushed the S&P 500 and Dow into marginally positive territory for the month, reversing early-November losses. However, the Nasdaq ended the month down 1.51%, reflecting continued investor caution toward elevated valuations in AI and high-growth technology names.

Market analysts noted that the divergence underscores ongoing concerns about the sustainability of the AI rally.
“This is a light volume post-holiday session… but I think everyone woke up to the fact that the outcome of AI is still very unknown,” said Cole Smead, CEO of Smead Capital Management.

CME Outage Briefly Halts Futures Trading, Exposing Market Vulnerabilities

Market nerves were briefly tested in early trade after a CME Group outage disrupted futures trading globally, temporarily freezing contracts tied to equities, commodities, and currencies. The disruption occurred due to a cooling issue at the CME’s CyrusOne data centers, according to the exchange.

The morning freeze was felt particularly in equity futures, which traders heavily rely upon to gauge pre-market sentiment and direction.
“We’re kind of lucky today. It was such a low-volume day, but it could have had a much bigger effect,” said Joe Saluzzi of Themis Trading.
He added that the incident highlights the risks posed by the increasing interconnectedness of financial markets and potential vulnerabilities in exchange infrastructure.

Shares of CME Group were marginally higher despite the disruption.

Retail Sector in Focus as Holiday Shopping Season Begins

Beyond the broader Wall Street edges higher narrative, retail stocks also remained in sharp focus as the holiday shopping season officially kicked off this week. The period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday is traditionally one of the heaviest spending windows in the US retail calendar, and early signs have suggested robust consumer activity.

Black Friday footfalls, online shopping numbers, and Cyber Monday forecasts will play a key role in assessing the strength of consumer confidence — a major driver of the US economy. While rising borrowing rates have affected parts of the consumer segment this year, retailers are expected to benefit from aggressive promotions, early discounts, and strong online sales volumes.

A Calm Session Caps a Strong Week for Wall Street

Friday’s post-holiday trade may have been subdued, but the broader momentum for the week remained decisively positive. Declining inflation, easing Treasury yields, and growing conviction in Federal Reserve policy easing have collectively injected confidence across risk assets.

As traders now shift focus to upcoming economic indicators — including consumer spending data, the Fed’s December meeting, and early holiday sales performance — the next few sessions could set the tone for how Wall Street closes out the final month of 2025.

For now, US stocks climbed, the Nasdaq regained footing, and Wall Street edged higher in a session that delivered stability and moderate optimism after a turbulent month.