Major stock indexes jumped Monday to begin a holiday-shortened week, with investors increasingly confident the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its December meeting.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq and benchmark S&P 500 surged a respective 2.3% and 1.4%, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%, or about 215 points.
Stock and bond markets will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday, and will be closing early on Friday.
The CME FedWatch tool now is predicting a roughly 77% likelihood that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its meeting next month after New York Fed President John Williams signaled Friday that he could support an additional rate cut by the central bank “in the near term.”
On Friday, the three indexes all rose roughly 1% following Williams’ comments but nevertheless finished sharply lower for the week, with the Nasdaq dropping 2.7% and the Dow and S&P down 1.9% apiece.
Indexes sank on concerns about AI spending and valuations of big tech firms. Shares of AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) fell about 6% over the five sessions even though the world’s most valuable company reported blockbuster third-quarter results and issued a rosy outlook Wednesday. Nvidia shares were up 1.2% in recent trading.
Shares of Google parent Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) continued their recent ascent after the company last Tuesday unveiled Gemini 3, the latest iteration of its flagship AI model. The stock added more than 8% of its value last week and was up a further 4% Monday. Meanwhile, shares of fellow Magnificent Seven firm Tesla (TSLA) jumped 7% after CEO Elon Musk wrote in a post on his X network that the EV maker expects “to build chips at higher volumes ultimately than all other AI chips combined.”
In addition to Alphabet and Tesla, chip stocks Broadcom (AVGO) and Micron Technology (MU) were up a respective 9% and 7.5% to help power the Nasdaq’s gains.
U.S.-listed shares of Novo Nordisk (NVO) sank 6.5% as a trial to see whether the active ingredient in the Danish firm’s blockbuster weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy could help slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease “did not confirm superiority of semaglutide versus placebo.”
Also, healthcare stocks Oscar Health (OSCR), Centene (CNC), and Molina Healthcare (MOH) surged a respective 21%, 7.5%, and 4.5% following a Politico report that the White House expects to pitch a two-year extension of Obamacare subsidies set to expire at the end of the year with new eligibility limits.
Bitcoin, which is coming off its worst week since February, recently was trading around $87,000, up from its weekend low of below $83,500. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note ticked lower to 4.05% from Friday’s close around 4.06%. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, was near flat at 100.18.
WTI crude futures, the U.S. oil benchmark, rose 0.6% to $58.40 per barrel. Gold futures were 0.2% higher at $4,090 per ounce.
Elon Musk Talks Up Tesla’s AI Chip Capabilities. Its Stock Is Surging
50 minutes ago
Elon Musk wants investors to know Tesla is an AI chip company, too.
“Most people don’t know that Tesla has had an advanced AI chip and board engineering team for many years,” the CEO posted on his social media site X Sunday, continuing that Tesla (TSLA) “has already designed and deployed several million AI chips” in its vehicles and data centers.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP / Getty Images
Tesla’s stock surged over 6% in recent trading following the post, making it one of the biggest gainers in the S&P 500. Rising expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut next month—which could also benefit the electric vehicle maker by stimulating demand for big-ticket purchases—likely also helped boost sentiment for the stock Monday, along with broader markets.
Read the full article here.
Tyson Foods to ‘Right-Size Its Beef Business’
1 hr 8 min ago
Tyson Foods (TSN) is going to “right-size its beef business.” Investors are cheering the news.
Shares of the meat giant are jumping 5% after the company late Friday said it “will end operations at its Lexington, Nebraska, beef facility and convert its Amarillo, Texas, beef facility to a single, full-capacity shift.”
Tyson Foods added that “to meet customer demand, production will be increased at other company beef facilities, optimizing volumes across our network.”
Tyson Foods reported a beef adjusted operating loss of $426 million in its recently completed fiscal 2025, and said it anticipates a beef adjusted operating loss between $400 million and $600 million in fiscal 2026 amid a cattle shortage.
“With these changes, Tyson Foods is ensuring that it will continue to deliver high-quality, affordable, and nutritious protein for generations to come,” it said.
Despite today’s advance, shares of Tyson Foods remain slightly negative this year.
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The New Reality of Retirement: Work Doesn’t End When You Claim Social Security
1 hr 57 min ago
While most Americans stop working and begin to live off their retirement savings and Social Security benefits—many still need to work to keep up with their expenses, a new report found.
In 2022, approximately 40% of Social Security recipients worked at some point after claiming benefits, according to an analysis from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. Some of these workers began receiving Social Security benefits before they retired. But others had to return to work to supplement their benefits to make ends meet.
Elizabeth Guevara / Investopedia
Lawmakers and advocates have argued that Social Security benefits are not keeping up with retirees’ rising expenses. Between 2010 and 2024, the annual cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security have not kept pace with inflation, resulting in a loss of approximately 20% of buying power for beneficiaries, according to a report by The Senior Citizens League.
Read the full article here.
US Foods, Performance Food Group Shares Move in Opposite Directions After They Call Off Merger Talks
2 hr 25 min ago
US Foods Holdings and Performance Food Group called off their merger talks Monday. Investors are rewarding one of the stocks.
Shares of US Foods Holdings (USFD) surged 5.5% in early trading after the company and fellow food-distribution firm Performance Food Group (PFGC) “mutually agreed to terminate the previously announced information sharing process and will no longer pursue a potential business combination.”
However, shares of Performance Food Group (PFGC) slipped almost 3% after the companies called off a proposed merger.
“Our Board of Directors is unanimous in its belief that the clearest and best path to long-term stockholder values is executing our standalone strategic plan, leveraging our diverse business segments to drive consistent revenue and profit growth,” PFG CEO George Holm said. “The strength of our recently reported fiscal first quarter results and continued momentum supports the confidence in our ability to drive value for stockholders independently.”
PFG affirmed its recently issued fiscal 2026 second-quarter and full-year outlooks.
Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images
‘Sell America’ Is Over—Global Investors Are Sticking With US Treasurys
3 hr 44 min ago
If there were any lingering thoughts that foreign investors are dumping U.S. Treasury securities—and threatening to raise interest rates for American households—the latest data from the federal government put it to rest.
New data from the Treasury Department showed continued appetite among foreign investors for U.S. securities, including the bonds that the Treasury issues to finance deficits. Net capital inflows were over $300 billion in August and September.
It’s the latest evidence that the fears of massive outflows from U.S. government bonds after President Donald Trump’s more-aggressive-than-expected tariff announcements in April haven’t panned out.
“That ‘Sell America’ thing was a one-week trade back in April. Since then, it’s absolutely been ‘Buy America Back,’” wrote Benjamin Schroeder, senior rates strategist at the Dutch bank ING.
Read the full article here.
JPMorgan Has 15 Ideas for ‘Bargain Hunting’ Tech Stock Investors
4 hr 25 min ago
Is it time to start buying tech stocks again?
JPMorgan says so, with analysts telling clients in a note Thursday—a day after Nvidia’s (NVDA) blockbuster earnings hit markets—that it could be time to go “bargain hunting” among the shares of hardware and networking companies that have taken big hits in recent weeks amid worries about an AI bubble.
Sheldon Cooper / SOPA Images / LightRocket / Getty Images
The analysts listed 15 stocks particularly exposed to AI that they believe represent the biggest bargains, with the most “overblown” risk already priced in, and strong fundamentals that could leave them poised for big gains.
Most of the stocks JPMorgan recommends have declined between around 10% to 30% from their highs of the last four weeks, with one down nearly 40%, and one off just about 5%.
Read the full article here.
Is the Stock Market Open for Thanksgiving and Black Friday?
4 hr 52 min ago
Traders get a break this week after a busy stretch in markets.
U.S. stock and bond markets are closed Thursday, Nov. 27, for Thanksgiving Day. Trading picks up again Friday—or Black Friday, if you prefer—but the days are shortened: The stock market closes at 1 p.m., while the bond market is set to close at 2 p.m.
Peter Kramer / NBC via Getty Images
The next trading breaks come around the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
The stock market will close at 1 p.m., and the bond market at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 24, for Christmas Eve, and remain closed through the holiday on Dec. 25.
Both markets are closed on Jan. 1, 2026, for New Year’s Day. Stock traders have a full day on New Year’s Eve, but bond trading ends at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 31.
Stock Futures Rise to Begin Holiday-Shortened Week
5 hr 16 min ago
Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were fractionally higher.
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S&P 500 futures were up 0.3%.
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Nasdaq 100 futures pointed 0.6% higher.
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