Stocks closed higher in a shortened Black Friday session, wrapping up their best week since June. Despite a premarket disruption at CME Group due to a data center malfunction, equity markets pushed through to finish with strong weekly gains. The S&P 500 and Dow extended their monthly winning streaks, while the Nasdaq snapped a seven-month run, weighed by rotation out of stretched tech names. Trading volume was light, and economic data was absent, keeping attention on Fed expectations and the upcoming inflation read.
Key Headlines & Market Movers:
CME Outage Disrupts Morning Futures Trading: A cooling system failure at a CyrusOne data center halted trading across multiple CME Group futures and options markets overnight. Activity resumed around 8:30 a.m. ET, limiting broader fallout. Though the incident echoed a 2019 outage, markets absorbed the disruption quickly, with CME shares recovering to end slightly positive. Gold and oil futures also bounced back once trading resumed.
Tech Rotation Hits Nasdaq, Defensive Sectors Gain: Despite a strong weekly gain, the Nasdaq 100 ended November in the red, its first monthly loss since March. Investors appeared to rotate into more defensive sectors like healthcare and retail, with Walmart, Target, and Amazon all gaining on Black Friday. Intel led major indexes with a double-digit surge, while Nvidia declined, dragging on the broader tech complex.
Rate Cut Bets Power Broad Market Gains: Expectations for Fed rate cuts as early as Q1 2026 fueled a late-month rebound. Money markets had priced in nearly an 80% chance of a December cut before the CME glitch. With a lack of recent government data, investors leaned on the soft-landing narrative to support risk assets. The S&P 500 clawed back from earlier month losses to close out a seventh consecutive positive month.
Commodities Recover Post-Halt; Gold and Oil Up: WTI crude rose over 1%, with traders eyeing this weekend’s OPEC+ meeting and developments around Ukraine peace talks. Gold futures spiked following the CME restart, supported by ongoing central bank buying, Fed policy expectations, and longer-term concerns over currency stability and sovereign debt levels.
S&P 500 Sector Performance
Looking Ahead
With trading volumes set to normalize next week, attention turns to key data releases including Challenger job cuts, ADP payrolls, and the Fed’s preferred inflation metric. These reports could shape expectations ahead of the December FOMC meeting, where markets are already leaning toward a dovish turn. Any surprises could trigger sharp positioning shifts, especially given the thin data backdrop of recent weeks.
The Investment Management Group at Duncan Williams Asset Management is led by a team with extensive experience in investment management, financial planning, and client service. President David Scully, CFA®, CFP®, has more than 20 years of experience and is active in Memphis civic organizations. Chief Investment Officer Kyle Gowen, CFA®, CFP®, oversees investment strategy and is engaged with the local community. Investment Analyst Jack Eason, CFA®, provides research and supports charitable initiatives. The IMG team is committed to professional standards, client service, and community involvement. No statement is intended as an offer of investment advice or a guarantee of future results.
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