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Stocks closed lower on Friday as investors awaiting a concrete trade deal took some money off the table after a strong month.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 74.14 points from Wednesday’s all-time record, to end the day, week and month at 28,089.86
The S&P 500 fell 5.62 points to 3,148.01
The NASDAQ subtracted 15.27 points from Wednesday’s all-time peak to 8,689.90
Equity markets were closed Thursday for Thanksgiving. Friday’s was an abbreviated session.
The major averages posted strong monthly gains despite Friday’s losses. The S&P 500 climbed 3.4% to notch its biggest one-month gain since June, when it rallied more than 6%. The Dow acquired 3.7% and the NASDAQ gained 4.5% for November. They also had their best month since June. For the week, the Dow gained 0.6% while the S&P 500 took on 1% and NASDAQ advanced 1.7%.
Stocks have been on fire this month in large part because of optimism around the U.S.-China trade negotiations. Back in October, President Donald Trump said the two sides had reached a “phase one” trade deal to be signed this month.
But that optimism has taken some hits recently, particularly this week after Trump signed a bill signed legislation supporting protesters in Hong Kong. China’s foreign ministry claimed the U.S. has “sinister intentions” after Trump signed the bill into law.
Wall Street also kept an eye on retail stocks as Black Friday unofficially kicked off the holiday shopping season. Analytics firm ShopperTrak said Black Friday will be the busiest shopping day of the year in the United States. So far, shoppers have dropped more than $7 billion online during Black Friday, according to data from Adobe.
Strong sales could point to strength in the U.S. consumer sector, which has been the linchpin in the economy as the trade war wages on.
Retail stocks fell with the broader market on Friday. Best Buy shares dipped 0.1% while Macy’s fell 1%.
For the month, IT services company DXC Technology is the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 this month, rallying 35%. Chipmaker Qorvo jumped 29%.
Charles Schwab also gained more than 20% for the month. Disney shares outperformed in the Dow this month, gaining 16.7% while UnitedHealth climbed nearly 11% over that time period.
Autodesk shares rose more than 22% this month, their biggest one-month gain since May 2017.
Bond markets shut down at 1 p.m. in the States, and prices for the 10-Year U.S. Treasury were higher as the session ended, lowering yields back to Wednesday’s 1.77%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped $2.69 at $55.42 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices strengthened $9.60 to $1,470.40 U.S. an ounce.
