Stock market today: Markets rise on Black Friday to cap off a memorable November
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- Investors added US stocks to their shopping lists on Black 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.
This story was originally posted after Friday's opening bell and has been updated.
US stocks finished a holiday-shortened session firmly higher, adding an exclamation point to a historic November. Trading ended at 1 p.m. ET on Friday after markets were closed for Thanksgiving.
The S&P 500 ended the day up 0.6%, which extended its monthly gain to 5.7% and its year-to-date rise to an impressive 26.5%.
That performance was slightly behind the Nasdaq Composite, as has been the case throughout 2024. An 0.8% advance on Friday has the technology-heavy index up 6.2% for the month and 28% this year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was also in the green. The 30-stock index outpaced its peers in November with a 7.5% surge, capped off by a 0.4% jump Friday that took it close to 44,910 points. For the year, it's up by a more modest 19.2%.
All but one of the 11 major market sectors finished the day higher, with technology and consumer discretionary leading the way.
Real estate, which has halved the market's gain this year, was the lone sector to finish down after diving into the close. Utilities and financials were also relative laggards.
Those who slept in or were busy shopping didn't miss much. As is often the case on Black Friday, trading volumes were a fraction of what they normally were — about a quarter of recent trading, in fact.
"Investors — at least those who bothered to show up — seemed incentivized to finish a generally stellar money with a final rally," Steve Sosnick, the chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, wrote in a message to Business Insider on Friday. "Light volume on a post-holiday half day made that effort easier."
Friday's 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.
US stocks will look to carry that momentum into December, which has historically been one of the best months in markets. The S&P 500 typically rises 1.3% in the final month and ends it higher about 73% of the time, according to Yardeni Research.
Elsewhere in markets, European stocks — as measured by the STOXX Europe 600 — rode a late surge to a 0.6% gain and ended the month up about 1%.
Chinese stocks also did well, 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.