New York, November 2025 – U.S. stock markets ended modestly higher in a shortened post-holiday session on Friday, following European gains and amid an early start to the crucial holiday shopping season. The session was complicated by a temporary outage at CME Group, the world’s largest exchange operator, which froze trading on currency and futures platforms, disrupting foreign exchange, commodities, Treasuries, and equities. The issue was resolved shortly before the market opened.

Investors were buoyed by growing optimism that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates at its December meeting, though broader November losses are expected due to lingering concerns over high-tech valuations and the longest-ever U.S. government shutdown. The S&P 500 is on track for its first monthly decline since April.

Market Performance:

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: +278.31 points (+0.59%) to 47,705.43
• S&P 500: +25.45 points (+0.37%) to 6,838.06
• Nasdaq Composite: +82.56 points (+0.36%) to 23,297.70

European equities also posted modest gains as optimism over a Fed rate cut and potential progress in the Russia-Ukraine peace process lifted sentiment. MSCI’s global stock index rose 0.3% to 1,003.72, while the pan-European STOXX 600 gained 0.23%. Emerging markets were mixed, with MSCI’s broad Asia-Pacific index down 0.3% and Japan’s Nikkei rising 0.17%.

Currencies & Cryptocurrencies:
The dollar approached its worst weekly performance since late July amid rising expectations of Fed easing. The DXY Dollar Index was nearly flat at 99.46, with EUR/USD at $1.1591 and USD/JPY at 156.32. Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies showed strength: Bitcoin rose 1.11% to $92,417.72, and Ethereum gained 1.14% to $3,068.57.

Treasuries, Oil, and Gold:
U.S. Treasury yields advanced slightly on low volume. The 10-year yield climbed 3.3 basis points to 4.031%, the 30-year rose to 4.6795%, and the 2-year yield increased to 3.504%.

Oil prices were mixed as futures resumed trading post-CME outage. WTI crude rose 0.95% to $59.21 per barrel, while Brent crude edged down 0.08% to $63.29. Gold prices rose amid Fed rate cut optimism, with spot gold up 0.99% to $4,198.09 per ounce.

Analysts noted a mixed outlook for the U.S. consumer this holiday season. Adobe Analytics reported a 5.3% increase in online shopping on Thanksgiving, though some shoppers remain cautious amid persistent inflation and a softening labor market.