Wall Street Eyes Fifth Day Of Gains, Silver Hits Record Highs At $55: What's Moving Markets Friday?

Stocks were rising again midday Friday, putting Wall Street on pace for a fifth straight day of gains as rate cut hopes surged and risk appetite returned across tech, crypto and commodities.

Traders now see an 88% chance the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by 25 basis points at its Dec. 10 meeting, up from just 50% last week, according to CME FedWatch data.

At midday, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% to 6,840, sitting just 1% below its all-time high and heading for its strongest five-day rally since May. The Nasdaq 100 climbed 0.6% above 25,340, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 300 points to trade near 47,730, eyeing a record-high close.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) led the S&P 500, jumping nearly 8%, as dip-buying returned to November’s beaten-down tech names.

Crypto-related stocks saw sharp intraday gains after Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) steadied near $90,000. Circle Internet Group Inc. (NYSE:CRCL) rose 10%, Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) gained 3.5% and Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR) added 2.2%.

Metals markets extended a blistering rally. Silver surged nearly 5% to an all-time high of $55.80 as Chinese inventories hit their lowest levels in a decade due to increased exports to London amid tight supply. Year-to-date, silver is now up 93% — on track for its best year since 1979. Gold was also higher, rising 1% to $4,200.

Copper gained 2.5% to $5.30 per pound, driven by persistent supply issues. It’s now up 31% on the year, its strongest performance since 2010.

Energy-related commodities also notched robust gains on Friday. Natural gas prices at the Henry Hub facility jumped 4.5% to $4.80 per million British thermal units, marking a new three-year high.

Crude oil climbed 1.5% as momentum from earlier losses faded. Optimism over a Russia-Ukraine peace deal cooled, with markets adjusting expectations and trimming short positions.

Read also: These 10 S&P 500 Stocks Are Dirt Cheap This Black Friday

Friday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) rose 0.5% to $628.02.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) rallied 0.7% to $477.49.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) rose 0.6% to $617.91.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) gained 0.4% to $248.34.
• The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) outperformed, up 1.3%; the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLV) lagged, down 0.6%.

Russell 1000’s Top 5 Gainers and Losers On Friday

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