US close: Wall Street rallies into Thanksgiving break

26th Nov 2025 22:31

(Sharecast News) - Major indices closed higher on Wednesday as stocks extended their recent winning streak for another session.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.67% at 47,427.12, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.69% to 6,812.61 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.82% firmer at 23,214.69.

The Dow closed 314.67 points higher on Wednesday, extending solid gains recorded in the previous session.

Market participants continued to track developments that could shape the Federal Reserve's next policy move on Wednesday, with traders now pricing in around an 85% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut in December.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday there was a "very good chance" that Donald Trump would announce the next Federal Reserve chair before Christmas. While Bessent confirmed interviews were ongoing, reports from Bloomberg suggested that White House National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett had emerged as a frontrunner, with markets viewing him as more likely to favour lower rates.

Broader market gains were supported by strength in technology on Wednesday, with Oracle climbing roughly 4% after analysts at Deutsche Bank reiterated their bullish view on the stock. Fellow 'Magnificent Seven' names Nvidia and Microsoft also ended the session in the green.

Wall Street trading will be halted on Thursday in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday.

On the macro front, mortgage applications rose 0.2% week-on-week in the seven days ended 21 November, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, doing little to reverse the 5.2% decline from the previous week. Applications to refinance a mortgage fell by 5.7%, while applications to purchase a home jumped 7.6%.

Elsewhere, Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a decelerated pace last week, according to fresh data from the Department of Labor. Initial jobless claims fell by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 216,000 in the week ended 22 November, below market expectations of an increase to 225,000, while continuing claims, which track those still receiving benefits, increased by 7,000 from the prior week's downwardly revised figure to 1.96m. The four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, came to 223,750, down by 1,000 from the previous week's print. The unemployment rate held steady at 1.3%

On another note, US durable goods orders rose modestly in September, according to the Census Bureau. New orders for manufactured durable goods increased 0.5% month‑on‑month, following an upwardly revised 3% gain in August and topping consensus estimates for a 0.3% rise. Transportation equipment orders grew 0.4%, compared with an 8% surge in the prior month, led by a 30.9% jump in defence aircraft and a 0.4% increase in vehicles. Excluding transportation, durable goods orders advanced 0.6% in September after a 0.5% rise in August. When stripping out defence, orders were up just 0.1%, following a 1.9% increase the previous month.

Finally, Chicago's business activity contracted sharply in November, according to the Institute for Supply Management's Chicago Business Barometer, which dropped to 36.3 from 43.8 in October, missing market expectations for a reading of 44.3. November's reading marked the 24th consecutive month below the neutral 50 threshold, signalling ongoing weakness and the steepest decline since May 2024. Sub‑indexes for new orders, production and employment all fell during the month, while supplier deliveries showed an increase.

In the corporate space, Deere & Co issued a cautious outlook for the year ahead on Wednesday, falling short of market expectations amid ongoing uncertainty over a recovery in the US farm economy. The world's largest agricultural machinery manufacturer said it expects fiscal‑year net income of between $4bn and $4.75bn, below consensus estimates of $5.31bn.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $23.91 3.06%

Boeing Co. (BA) $186.92 2.46%

Walmart Inc. (WMT) $109.32 1.96%

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $816.01 1.71%

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $307.64 1.53%

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $573.73 1.26%

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $355.47 1.25%

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $329.71 1.05%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $64.33 1.02%

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $40.88 0.71%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $228.15 -2.55%

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $104.63 -0.97%

3M Co. (MMM) $170.80 -0.43%

International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $303.21 -0.42%

Visa Inc. (V) $333.79 -0.22%

Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $148.30 -0.16%

S&P 500 - Risers

Kohls Corp. (KSS) $24.10 7.49%

Newmont Corporation (NEM) $90.74 4.93%

Dollar General Corp (DG) $108.94 4.28%

Oracle Corp. (ORCL) $204.96 4.02%

FMC Corp. (FMC) $13.95 3.95%

Perrigo Company plc (PRGO) $13.40 3.87%

Target Corp. (TGT) $89.80 3.72%

Gap Inc. (GAP) $27.53 3.50%

Delta Airlines Inc. (DAL) $64.27 3.41%

Humana Inc. (HUM) $245.99 3.41%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Deere & Co. (DE) $469.87 -5.67%

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $228.15 -2.55%

TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $14.85 -2.24%

Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. (IPG) $24.57 -1.96%

Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC) $71.50 -1.85%

Agilent Technologies Inc. (A) $154.37 -1.80%

AbbVie Inc (ABBV) $227.66 -1.79%

Gartner Inc. (IT) $231.25 -1.75%

Cencora Inc (COR) $368.53 -1.66%

Gen Digital Inc. (GEN) $26.24 -1.65%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $9.06 6.03%

Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $1,040.97 3.76%

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $230.26 2.55%

Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $301.38 2.36%

Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $12.48 2.13%

Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $409.68 2.01%

Tesla Inc (TSLA) $426.58 1.71%

Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $106.14 1.67%

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $129.46 1.56%

KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $1,159.07 1.15%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $215.34 -7.85%

Gen Digital Inc. (GEN) $26.24 -1.65%

Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $55.52 -1.37%

Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $116.34 -1.31%

Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $320.28 -1.04%

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $184.34 -0.84%

Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $317.52 -0.64%

Paychex Inc. (PAYX) $111.41 -0.62%

eBay Inc. (EBAY) $82.50 -0.36%

Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $75.25 -0.33%