• A strong close to the month as chip stocks rallied. Stocks finished higher on Friday, closing a strong month for November and the strongest month of the year. The S&P 500 stood out the most as it jumped nearly 6% during the month. Analysts are bullish with Trump entering office and Deutsche Bank analyst Bankim Chadha wrote in a note that his end-2025 price target for the S&P 500 is at 7,000 points, a level that would suggest another 16.25% gain from Friday's close. The Dow also saw its best month in November closing at almost 45,000.
• How did international markets fare? Asian markets were mixed overnight. Chinese stocks gained after Beijing said it would extend some tariff exemptions on U.S. goods through February. European markets were mostly higher following a lower-than-expected eurozone inflation report.
• Treasury yield fell. In the bond market Friday, the 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.192%, down slightly from its level a month ago. 
• Bitcoin went higher. The leading cryptocurrency saw a nearly 40% November gain as it edges closer to $100,000.
• Oil prices declined. Oil prices edged lower on Friday and posted a weekly decline of more than 3%. This is despite OPEC+ anticipated to extend output cuts.
• Gold may have had its worst month. While the precious metal gained on Friday, Gold is on course for its worst monthly performance since September 2023 due to a dollar rally this month following Donald Trump's U.S. election victory.
• Semiconductor stocks advanced. Equipment makers Applied Materials and Lam Research as well as chip maker Nvidia went higher this week. A Bloomberg report that the Biden administration’s new planned curbs on industry sales to China would be less severe than previously anticipated had boosted some international chip stocks.
• Hasbro shares gained on a potential Musk buyout. The toy maker saw its stock price go 2% higher after Elon Musk ignited takeover speculation by asking on X how much the company is worth.
• Baidu received a price target decrease. Citi lowered the firm’s price target on Baidu (BIDU) to $141 from $142 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares post the Q3 report. 
• What to expect in December? December has been a seasonally strong month for stocks historically. “Optimism regarding the arrival of Santa Claus won’t be limited to children,” said José Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers.

• Super Micro Computer (SMCI)
• Banco Bradesco (BBD)
• Mara Holdings (MARA)
• Nvidia (NVDA)
• SoundHound AI (SOUN)

Biggest Gainers

• SoundHound AI (SOUN) +18.15%
• IonQ, Inc. (IONQ) +13.32%
• Bitdeer Technologies (BTDR) +16.68%
• Archer Aviation (ACHR) +18.44%
• T&D Holdings (TDHOY) +13.32%

Biggest Losers

• Cosan (CSAN) -9.70%
• XP (XP) -9.43%
• StoneCo Ltd. (STNE) -8.93%
• Grifols (GRFS) - 13.38%
• HUTCHMED (HCM) -8.03%

Weekly Notables

Elon Musk Goes After OpenAI

Attorneys for Tesla CEO Elon Musk have filed for a preliminary injunction against OpenAI, several of its co-founders, and its investor and close collaborator, Microsoft, to prevent OpenAI and other named defendants from engaging in what Musk's counsel claims is anticompetitive behavior.

Former Gap CEO Says Tariffs May Send Apparel Prices as Much as 20% Higher

In an interview with Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi, former CEO of Gap and J. Crew Alex Mill Chairman Mickey Drexler, revealed concerns on the impact of potential Trump tariffs, including potential price increases. The retailer's current CEO Richard Dickson recently said, "Our holiday season is off to a strong start. It gives us the confidence to raise our expectations for the year in sales, gross margin, and operating income growth."

The Week Ahead

• Potential market moving catalysts this week: The week ahead will be a busy one to gauge U.S. economic activity. The release of the ISM services and manufacturing PMI's are this week as well as Friday's nonfarm-payroll report for November. 
• Earnings on deck this week: BHP Group Limited, Zscaler, Salesforce, Marvell Technology, Bank of Nova Scotia, Okta, Hormel Foods Corp., Dollar Tree, Chewy, The Campbell's Company, SentinelOne, PVH Corp., Kroger Company, Lululemon Athletica, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Genesco, and Kirkland's.
   

Earnings Spotlight: Chewy

Wall Street expects a year-over-year increase in earnings on higher revenues when Chewy (CHWY) reports results for the quarter ended October 2024. The online pet store is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.23 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +53.3%. Revenues are expected to be $2.86 billion, up 4.4% from the year-ago quarter. The earnings report is expected to be released on December 4th.