Stocks Grind Higher, Oil Rallies, Dollar Falls: What's Driving Markets Monday?

U.S. stocks are kicking off the Thanksgiving holiday week on a positive note, with all major Wall Street indices trading in the green as of midday in New York.

The U.S. dollar index (DXY) has declined to 103.50 levels, marking its lowest point since late August, one day ahead of the eagerly anticipated release of the FOMC minutes from the November meeting.

Oil prices have witnessed a robust rally, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) climbing more than 3% to breach the $78-per-barrel mark. Investors are now looking ahead to the OPEC+ meeting where the cartel is expected to further cut production to bolster crude prices. The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE has registered a 0.5% increase.

Treasury yields have shown little movement, with the 10-year benchmark yield remaining flat at 4.46%.

US Index Performance On Monday

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was 0.4% higher to $452.73.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF DIA fell 0.3% to $350.62. 
• The Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ was up 0.8% to $389.04.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM rose 0.5% to $179.19, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Chart Of The Day: Tech Stocks Are Only 5% From All-Time Highs

Sector, Industry ETF Performance

Tech stocks have taken the lead in driving gains, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund XLK surging by 1%, outperforming all other sectors.

The Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund XLU and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund XLP were the laggards, down 0.5%.

Among industries, solar stocks sharply outperformed, with the Invesco Solar ETF TAN rallying by 3.4%.

Regional banks softened, with the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF KRE easing 0.5%.

Stocks In Focus

• Microsoft rose 2% after the company hired former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and former president Greg Brockman, along with some of their ex-colleagues to set up a new AI team.
• Nvidia Corp. NVDA rose 1% ahead of the highly anticipated release of its earnings due Tuesday after the market close.
• Citigroup Inc. C was moving higher after the bank announced a massive layoff initiative, targeting 10% of workforce.
• Boeing Co. BA rallied over 4% after Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to Buy on an improved free cash flow outlook.
• Paramount Global PARA soared 6.5% after selling its Bellator mixed martial arts promotion to the Professional Fighters League, according to an announcement made by the PFL on Monday.
• PENN Entertainment PENN rallied nearly 7% following Bank of America’s decision to upgrade the stock, driven by favorable download data for the sports gambling service ESPN Bet.

Commodities, Other Global Equity Markets And Crypto

The United States Oil Fund, LP USO, which tracks the price performance of light sweet crude oil, rose 3.1%.

Gold edged 0.4% lower to $1,973/oz, while silver fell 1% to $21.49. 

European equity indices had a mixed sesssion. The SPDR DJ Euro STOXX 50 ETF  FEZ rose 0.3%.

In emerging markets, Global X MSCI Argentina ETF ARGT rose as much as 12% following Javier Milei‘s victory of the country’s presidential elections.

Bitcoin BTC/USD was 1% higher to $37,753, while Ethereum ETH/USD rose 2.2% to $2,056.

Shanthi Rexaline contributed to this report.

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