U.S. stocks marked their fourth consecutive week of gains, the longest winning streak since June, in a week marked by thinner trading volumes due to the Thanksgiving and Black Friday holidays.
Small-cap stocks outperformed, while tech stocks lagged behind as U.S. Treasury yields surged following better-than-expected services PMI data in November.
Both the 10-year and 30-year Treasury bond yields increased by 7 basis points, resulting in a 1.1% decline in the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT.
The remaining sectors of the S&P 500 saw little movement, with energy and materials slightly outperforming by the end of the session.
Elsewhere, gold held above the psychological $2,000/oz threshold, signaling renewed optimism among investors.
Wednesday’s US Index Performance
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Nasdaq 100 | -0.12% | 15,982.00 |
| S&P 500 Index | +0.06% | 4,559.33 |
| Dow Industrials | +0.33% | 35,390.16 |
| Russell 2000 | +0.67% | 1,807.50 |
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- The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY closed flat at $455.21.
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- The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF DIA ended 0.4% to $353.91.
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- The Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ eased 0.15% to $289.48.
Chart Of The Day: Nasdaq 100 At Less Than 5% Distance From All-Time Highs
Sector, Industry ETFs Performance
Healthcare stocks led gains among equity sectors, with the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund XLV up 0.55%.
The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund XLC and the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund XLK were the laggards, down 0.4% and 0.2% respectively.
Among industries, oil services, as monitored through the VanEck Oil Services ETF OIH edged higher by 0.5%.
Solar stocks, as tracked by the Invesco Solar ETF TAN, underperformed, down by 1.4%.
Latest Economic Data
The S&P Global Manufacturing PMI for the U.S. recorded a slight decrease, falling from 50 to 49.4 points in November, signaling a reentry into contraction territory. In contrast, the S&P Global Services PMI rose from 50.6 to 50.8 points, surpassing expectations of 50.4.
Stocks In Focus
- Nordstrom Inc. JWM and Best Buy Co. BBY rose 6% and 2.9%, respectively, thanks to deeper discounts that drew in shoppers seeking clothing and electronics.
- NVIDIA Corp. NVDA fell 1.9%, marking the second straight decline following its earnings release.
- First Solar Inc. FSLR fell 3.5% as buyers take a respite after the 15% gain seen in the prior week.
Coinbase Global Inc. COIN rose 5.8%, as cryptocurrencies surged across the board.
Commodities, Other Global Equity Markets And Crypto
The United States Oil Fund, LP USO, closed 1.2%.
Gold, as monitored through the SPDR Gold Trust GLD, rose 0.4% to $2,000/oz. Silver rallied 2% to $24.30.
European equity indices inched higher. The SPDR DJ Euro STOXX 50 ETF FEZ edged up 1.1%.
Bitcoin BTC/USD was 1.4% up to $37,815, while Ethereum ETH/USD rose 1.8% to $2,099.
Shanthi Rexaline contributed to this report.
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Image and article originally from www.benzinga.com. Read the original article here.