Stocks notch best month since June
It is the final trading day of what will be a winning month for stocks
U.S. stocks ended the final trading day of the month marginally lower with U.S. equity markets closing early as is customary on the day after Thanksgiving.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 44296.51 | +426.16 | +0.97% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5969.34 | +20.63 | +0.35% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 19003.651134 | +31.23 | +0.16% |
But the real story is the monthly action. November is the best month for stocks since June. With all three of the major market indexes registering monthly gains of 4 percent or more.
U.S. stocks broke multiple records during the past four weeks, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average topping 28,000 for the first time in its history.
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With the holiday shopping season well underway, investors are focusing on retail stocks.
Companies including Walmart and Amazon are in the spotlight as well as Target, which rolled out new deals on Friday, including a jumpstart to Cyber Week.
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And Costco, amid retail crunch time, saw its website malfunction. A message on the site read: "The website is currently experiencing longer than normal response times. Please note that all Thanksgiving Day-only promotions have been extended into Friday, November 29th, WHILE SUPPLIES LAST. We apologize for any inconvenience."
Warren Buffett is making headlines, too. The Oracle of Omaha reportedly lost a bid for Tech Data to private equity firm Apollo Global Management, which offered $145 per share, valuing the company at $5.14 billion.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WMT | WALMART INC. | 90.44 | +2.04 | +2.31% |
| TGT | TARGET CORP. | 125.01 | +3.42 | +2.81% |
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM INC. | 197.12 | -1.26 | -0.64% |
| COST | COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP. | 964.01 | +8.36 | +0.87% |
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One week ago, Buffett said he bid $140 a share, or a little over $5 billion excluding debt, for the Clearwater, Florida-based company, according to CNBC. Apollo raised its initial offer of $130 a share, or just over $4.77 billion, after an unnamed suitor -- which happened to be Berkshire -- topped it.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TECD | NO DATA AVAILABLE | - | - | - |
In auto news, Mercedes Benz owner Daimler will cut thousands of jobs in an effort to streamline the automotive company, the company said Friday.
The German car company, which has 46 locations across the U.S. and employs a global workforce of at least 300,000 people, said it will cut jobs by at least 10 percent -- or 10,000 jobs -- worldwide by 2022.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DMLRY | NO DATA AVAILABLE | - | - | - |
Wynn Resorts may be no more, the name anyway, according to Casino.org. Founder Steve Wynn, who remains engulfed in legal issues involving sexual misconduct claims, has been targeted by the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Industry insiders are discussing whether the company will need to further distance itself from Wynn with a name change. The founder resigned in February 2018.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WYNN | WYNN RESORTS LTD. | 91.29 | -0.45 | -0.49% |
As for ongoing trade negotiations, with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in limbo in the U.S. Congress, the other parties are hoping to move the needle.
Mexico's Undersecretary for North America, Jesus Seade, is set to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Friday morning, followed by a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland in Ottowa, FOX Business has learned.
On the economic front, the Chicago Purchasing Manager's Index, also known as the Chicago Business Barometer, showed the region's manufacturing sector contracted for a third straight month in November, even though the reading ticked up 3.1 points to 46.3. Expansion is indicated by a level of 50 or higher.
New orders and backlogs improved the most during the month, according to the Institute for Supply Management and Market News International, which produce the index. The sharpest slowdown was in supplier deliveries, the only piece of the gauge's five main components still growing.
The shifts reflect how manufacturers are handling higher supply costs from President Trump's tariffs, including the levies on billions of dollars in Chinese imports. About 57 percent of companies surveyed for the index said they are absorbing the charges themselves rather than passing the costs on to customers.
In commodities news, Brent and WTI oil prices were modestly lower.