Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on November 25, 2025 in New York City, USA.
Brendan McDiarmid | Reuters
of S&P500 and Nasdaq Composite It rose slightly on Thursday as investors braced for next week’s Federal Reserve interest rate decision.
The composite index rose 0.11% to end at 6,857.12. Nasdaq Composite It traded up just 0.22% to close at 23,505.14. of Dow Jones Industrial Average It fell just 31.96 points, or 0.07%, to 47,850.94.
While government bond yields rose, Bitcoin Selling resumed, returning 0.5%. The cryptocurrency fell below $85,000 on Monday, its lowest level since March. However, the token rebounded early Tuesday and continued to trade above the $90,000 level throughout the week, offering a glimmer of hope to downtrodden crypto investors.
Investors took note of a report from employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas showing that U.S. employers announced layoffs in November were on pace to exceed 1 million jobs a year, as corporate restructuring, artificial intelligence and tariffs cut the number of job openings. On Wednesday, ADP statistics revealed an alarming slump in civilian salaries.
With increasing signs that the labor market is softening, Wall Street is confident the Fed will cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point at its last meeting of the year on December 10th. According to the CME FedWatch tool, the market has priced in an 87% chance of a rate cut next Wednesday, much higher than just a few weeks ago.
“The market has been strong so far this year and showed strength in the second half of November, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the market moves sideways from here,” said Tim Holland, Orion’s chief investment officer. “The big news is a 25 basis point rate cut, but this has been so widely wired that it would be shocking if we didn’t receive it. The market is expecting that. So after probably a great 11 months and recent volatility, we’re just marking time, maybe through the end of the year, and then we’ll see how 2026 starts.”
Investors on Thursday largely missed the latest weekly jobless claims numbers, which showed new jobless claims at the lowest level since September 2022. Jobless claims for the week ending Nov. 29 totaled a seasonally adjusted 191,000, down 27,000 from the prior quarter and below the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 220,000.
“I think the market breathed a sigh of relief with each data point showing that the bottom hasn’t fallen out. Even though today’s initial claims data was skewed by the Thanksgiving holiday, I think it was very well received,” Holland added. “I don’t think we’ll get any data between now and now that would cancel out a Fed rate cut next week.”
Other important economic announcements this week come on Friday, when the Commerce Department releases delayed September statistics on consumer spending and income, as well as the Personal Consumption Expenditure Index, the Fed’s main inflation measure. The University of Michigan will also release its December consumer survey on Friday.
sales force was the major winner in Thursday’s trading, rising nearly 4% after the software company provided better-than-expected revenue forecasts. Five Below Shares also rose more than 3% after the discount retailer’s profits beat Wall Street expectations.
The stock market recorded strong trading on the previous business day, although AI trading remained volatile. The tech sector is the worst laggard among the S&P 500 sectors. microsoft, Nvidia and broadcom.
— With additional reporting by CNBC’s Jeff Cox
