U.S. stocks are opening with small gains on the final trading day of November.
The S&P rose 0.2 per cent and needs a slightly larger gain to avoid its first down month since April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 66 points, and the Nasdaq gained 0.4 per cent.
Coinbase Global added 2.2 per cent as bitcoin rose above US$92,000. Most tech stocks posted gains, with Google parent Alphabet rising 1.8 per cent and Micron Technology adding 2.1 per cent, although Oracle fell three per cent.
Wall Street is operating on an abbreviated schedule Friday after being closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. Stock trading closes at 1 p.m. ET.
Wall Street is trying to avoid its first monthly loss since April. The S&P 500 comes into trading Friday with a month-to-date decline of just 0.4 per cent following a four-day winning streak.
In European trading, Germany’s DAX rose 0.2 per cent as traders awaited inflation data set to be released later in the day.
Britain’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.2 per cent on gains in energy and mining stocks. The CAC 40 in France also rose 0.2 per cent.
While developments related to artificial intelligence have been driving recent ups and downs in world markets, the focus remains on the outlook for U.S. monetary policy. Recent comments by Fed officials have helped revive hopes the central bank will cut its benchmark rate again during its meeting next month.
“Everyone is sprinting toward the same conclusion: the Fed will deliver holiday cheer,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.2 per cent higher to 50,253.91, rebounding from losses earlier in the day. Data showed Japan’s housing starts rose 3.2 per cent in October from the same period a year ago, the first annual increase since March. The number defied market expectations of 5.2 per cent decline and reversed a 7.3 per cent drop in September.
Government data also showed Tokyo’s year-on-year core inflation in November remained at 2.8 per cent, unchanged from October and above the Bank of Japan’s two per cent target. That reinforces expectations of a gradual shift by the central bank to higher interest rates, although a rate hike is not expected at the Bank of Japan’s December meeting.
South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.5 per cent after the country’s industrial production fell 4% month-on-month in October, more than the 1.1 per cent decline in September.
In Chinese markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 0.3 per cent. The Shanghai Composite index edged up 0.3 per cent.
Brent crude, the international standard for pricing, slipped 17 cents to $62.70 per barrel. U.S. crude gained 26 cents to $58.91 per barrel.
Teresa Cerojano, The Associated Press
