Dow Climbs for Fourth Day, S&P 500 Extends Winning Streak Amid Trump's Treasury Nominee Announcement

Stocks closed higher as the Dow gained 1% with notable strength in housing, tech and airline stocks. The market awaits key economic reports while bond yields drop following Trump's Treasury Secretary pick.

The Dow closed higher for the fourth consecutive session, jumping 440.06 points (1%) to 44,736.57. The S&P 500 extended its winning streak to six sessions, climbing 18.03 points (0.3%) to 5,987.37 while the Nasdaq rose 51.18 points (0.3%) to 19,054.84.

President-elect Donald Trump intends to nominate billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary. Bessent is seen as supportive of the equity markets and an advocate for deficit reduction. He has also called for Trump's planned tariff increases to be implemented gradually, which could reduce the impact on inflation.

 

Buying interest waned as the day progressed as traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the release of several key economic reports in the coming days.

A report on personal income and spending in the month of October is likely to be in the spotlight, as it includes the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation readings. Reports on consumer confidence, new home sales and durable goods orders are also likely to attract attention along with the minutes of the Fed's latest monetary policy meeting.

Housing stocks moved sharply higher, a 4.5% spike by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index. Computer hardware stocks displayed substantial strength with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index soaring by 4.1%. Airline stocks significantly moved upwards, driving the NYSE Arca Airline Index up by 2.6%. Commercial real estate, retail and biotechnology stocks also saw considerable strength while gold stocks plunged along with the price of the precious metal.

Asia Pacific stocks turned in a mixed performance. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.3% while China's Shanghai Composite Index edged down by 0.1% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.4%.

The major European markets all moved upside. While the French CAC 40 Index closed just above the unchanged line, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both rose by 0.4%.

In the bond market, treasuries moved sharply higher in reaction to Trump's Treasury Secretary pick. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, plunged 14.5 bps to 4.26%.

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