Dow, S&P, and Nasdaq ended higher to start the holiday shortened trading week

Traders and investors watched Wall Street`s major averages finish Monday on a positive note where the blue-chip Dow outshined both the tech-heavy Nasdaq and benchmark S&P 500. The moves came as market participants processed the latest developments surrounding president-elect Donald Trump`s appointment of Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary. At the conclusion of the trading session, the ( DJI ) ended on top as it picked up 0.99% . Also closing in the green was the S&P 500 ( SP500 ) as it climbed up 0.30% , and the Nasdaq Composite ( COMP:IND ) finished the day higher as it picked up 0.27% . From a sector-by-sector point of view, nine of the 11 S&P sectors closed out the session in positive territory with Real Estate and Consumer Discretionary leading the charge. In reverse, the worst performing sector on the day was Energy as oil ( CL1:COM ) fell 3% . U.S. Treasury yields also observed a move lower to start the week as the shorter end more rate sensitive U.S. 2-Year Treasury yield ( US2Y ) fell by 11 basis points to 4.26% and the longer end U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield ( US10Y ) dropped 14 basis points to 4.26%. For more, see how Treasury yields have done across the curve on the Seeking Alpha bond page. "Despite treasury bonds catching a bid after Scott Bessent`s nomination for US Treasury Secretary, the broad equity market only managed to register a minor gain in today`s session,” Seeking Alpha’s Ahan Vashi of The Quantamental Investor investing group stated. “Interestingly, Mr. Market sold off recent winners like Nvidia ( NVDA ) to rotate into small-cap stocks. Given the top-heavy nature of the market rally, I view such rotation as healthy and imperative. However, US equity valuation are historically elevated, and investors must remain highly selective with their capital right now," Vashi added. The crypto world saw a filing on Monday from MicroStrategy ( MSTR ) which showed the company bought ~55,500 more bitcoins for ~$5.4B in the week of Nov. 18-24, a ~17% increase in its bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) holdings as the digital token continues to flirt with the $100K level. On Friday, after the U.S. market closed, media reports said that, President-elect Donald Trump nominated hedge fund manager Scott Bessent to head up the Treasury Department under his new administration. "Markets reacted positively to Trump nominating the financier Bessent as treasury secretary. Investors prefer orthodoxy, predictability, and coherence from economic policy; there were fears that some of the candidates may not possess those attributes. Bessent does," UBS` Paul Donovan said. On the economic calendar, The Chicago Fed national activity index sank deeper into the red in October. Furthermore, the November Dallas Fed Manufacturing Survey arrived at -2.7 versus the -3.9 consensus and -3.0 prior levels. As for stocks that were on the move, shares of Hims & Hers Health ( HIMS ) popped 23.8% as the Street appears to believe that President-Elect Donald Trump`s nomination of Marty Makary for U.S. FDA Commissioner will be positive for drug compounders and companies that sell their products. Wall Street will have a shortened trading week due to the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, with markets also closing early on Friday. More on Markets SA quant grades ranks 20 JPMorgan overweight consumer stock picks Barclays ups its 2025 year-end S&P 500 target to 6,600 Weekly Market Pulse: Don`t Be A Sheep With energy showing signs of life after Trump`s victory, BTIG highlights ETFs Piper Sandler highlights key support and resistance levels for the S&P 500

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