Freedomworks economist Steve Moore shares his thoughts on the unexpected jump in jobless claims as coronavirus cases rise and weighs in on Janet Yellen’s nomination for Treasury Secretary.
The Nasdaq Composite led Friday’s gains wrapping a winning week for the broader U.S. equity markets in the shortened holiday session on Black Friday.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 12205.846315 | +111.44 | +0.92% |
| TSLA | TESLA INC. | 585.76 | +11.76 | +2.05% |
The tech-heavy composite rose over 111 points or 0.9% helped in part by Tesla which continues to smash records.
Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle maker, which will be added to the S&P 500 on December 21, has seen its market cap soar to $555 billion through Friday.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 3638.35 | +8.70 | +0.24% |
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 29910.37 | +37.90 | +0.13% |
The S&P 500 also closed at a fresh record rising 0.24%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose over 37 points just below that key 30,000 level reached for the first time in history earlier this week.
DOW, S&P, NASDAQ RISE 2% FOR THE WEEK
All three of the major U.S. averages clocked gains of over 2% for the week.
Americans are spending as Black Friday kicked off the holiday shopping season heading into Cyber Monday. Already, online sales hit a record $5.1 billion, as tracked by Adobe Analytics. Major retailers closed mixed on Friday.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WMT | WALMART INC. | 151.60 | -0.23 | -0.15% |
| TGT | TARGET CORP. | 179.77 | -0.05 | -0.03% |
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM INC. | 3,195.34 | +10.27 | +0.32% |
| W | WAYFAIR | 260.68 | +10.12 | +4.04% |
Vaccine news continues to dictate market sentiment.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AZN | ASTRAZENECA PLC | 52.61 | +0.01 | +0.02% |
AstraZeneca plc was little changed after CEO Pascal Soriot told Bloomberg News that the company will likely conduct a new trial of its COVID-19 vaccine as some participants received incorrect dosages. Other vaccine makers, Pfizer, Moderna and BioNTech tacked on gains.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PFE | PFIZER INC. | 37.26 | +0.73 | +2.00% |
| MRNA | MODERNA INC. | 127.03 | +17.85 | +16.35% |
| BNTX | BIONTECH SE | 109.99 | +5.03 | +4.79% |
Slack Technologies Inc. dipped as traders digest a possible deal with Salesforce.com Inc. Slack shares soared 38% after news of advanced talks between the two companies broke on Wednesday. A deal could be announced, according to reports, early next week valuing slack around $17 billion.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WORK | SLACK TECHNOLOGIES INC. | 40.64 | -0.01 | -0.02% |
| CRM | SALESFORCE.COM | 247.86 | +1.18 | +0.48% |
Looking at commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 33 cents to $45.25 per barrel, while gold plunged over $21.00 to $1,790 an ounce.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USO | UNITED STATES OIL FUND L.P. | 31.22 | -0.15 | -0.48% |
| GLD | SPDR GOLD SHARES TRUST – EUR ACC | 167.77 | -1.73 | -1.02% |
