It was a quiet end to the holiday-shortened week. Today's session was abbreviated, with the stock market closing at 1 pm Eastern time. But while the price action in the main market indexes was muted, several single stocks made notable moves.
Many market participants stayed off the clock this Black Friday, with volume notably low in today's shortened session. As for the main indexes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.3% at 35,390) and S&P 500 (+0.06% at 4,559) eked out modest gains, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.1% to 14,250.
Still, all three indexes closed higher on the week, bringing their weekly win streaks to four.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
While most of today's headlines centered on the best Black Friday deals or projections of Black Friday sales (Adobe estimates $9.6 billion, up 5.7% year-over-year), there were several news items that held investors' attention. One was S&P Global's flash purchasing managers' index (PMI), which showed activity in the services sector hit a four-month high of 50.8 in November. Manufacturing activity, on the other hand, slumped to a three-month low of 49.9. Readings below 50 indicate contraction.
The data also showed that the private sector cut jobs for the first time since June 2020. "Job shedding has spread beyond the manufacturing sector, as services firms signaled a renewed drop in staff in November as cost savings were sought," said Sian Jones, principal economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, in the press release.
iRobot stock pops on Amazon news
Meanwhile, in single-stock news, iRobot (IRBT) stock surged 39.1% after a Reuters report indicated European Union antitrust authorities are prepared to approve Amazon.com's (AMZN, +0.02%) acquisition of the Roomba maker.
The deal was first announced in August 2022, when Amazon agreed to buy iRobot for $1.7 billion, although that purchase price was lowered by 15% in July 2023 to account for "the incurrence of iRobot's new debt," according to a press release.
Salesforce earnings, inflation data on deck
Next week will bring a jam-packed end to November. For one, a relatively busy earnings calendar features the likes of dollar-store chain Dollar Tree (DLTR, +1.5%) and Dow Jones stock Salesforce (CRM, +0.2%).
Additionally, speeches from a number of Federal Reserve officials are sprinkled throughout the week, while the Fed's preferred measure of inflation – the personal consumption and expenditures (PCE) index – will be released Thursday morning.
Related content
- When Is the Next CPI Report?
- Black Friday Weekend Shopping Starts With Huge Numbers
- Amazon Workers Strike In Europe On Black Friday
-
The Role of the U.S. Dollar in Retirement: Is It Secure?Protect your retirement from de-dollarization, because “capital always goes where it is treated best."
-
Retire in France for Beauty and CultureFrance offers a great history and a slower pace of life for retirees. At times, it can feel like stepping into a postcard.
-
Stock Market Today: Great Power Affairs Mesmerize MarketsThe U.S. and China are at least talking about talking about tariffs, and investors, traders and speculators are showing a little less fear.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Rise on Good VolatilityInvestors, traders and speculators continue to process the "known unknown" of global tariff-and-trade war negotiations.
-
Stock Market Today: Trump Retreats, Markets RejoiceStocks rally, yields soften, the dollar rises, and even beaten-down names enjoy the wages of potential trade peace.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Soar on China Trade Talk HopesTreasury Secretary Bessent said current U.S.-China trade relations are unsustainable and signaled hopes for negotiations.
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Drops 971 Points as Powell Pressure Ramps UpPresident Trump is increasing his attacks against Jerome Powell, insisting the Fed chair cut interest rates.
-
Stock Market Today: No 'Powell Put'? No ProblemInvestors, traders and speculators look beyond both another Trump post and more signs of slowing economic activity.
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Drops 699 Points After Powell SpeechFed Chair Powell warned of a slowing economy and higher inflation but said the central bank isn't ready to cut rates just yet.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Struggle Amid Tariff UncertaintyBoeing dropped after China suspended new aircraft orders, while Bank of America and Citi climbed on earnings beats.
