Retailers Brace for Cyber Monday Amid Economic Concerns

U.S. stocks opened with gains on the last trading day of November, with the S&P 500 rising 0.2%, needing a slightly larger gain to avoid its first down month since April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 138 points, while the Nasdaq increased by 0.3%.

Coinbase Global saw a 3.6% rise as Bitcoin surpassed $92,000 after previously dropping to around $81,000. Despite these gains, Bitcoin remains significantly below its all-time high of approximately $125,000, set in early October.

Most technology stocks experienced upward movement, with Meta Platforms increasing by 1.4% and Micron Technology climbing 2.8%. However, Nvidia, the market's most valuable stock, fell 1% and is on track for a double-digit loss for the month.

Oracle also struggled, decreasing by 2.3%. After being closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, Wall Street is operating on an abbreviated schedule, with stock trading closing at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Earlier in the day, futures for the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq were halted for hours due to a technical issue at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which was linked to an outage at a CyrusOne data center.

Following a slump earlier in November caused by concerns over technology stocks that surged due to artificial intelligence hype, stocks have rebounded for four consecutive trading sessions. This recovery is fueled by hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its meeting scheduled for December 10.

Investors are currently betting on an 87% probability that the Fed will enact a rate cut next month. The central bank has already cut rates twice in 2023 as a response to a slowing job market, but faces a challenging decision due to rising inflation and a weakening job market.

While recent corporate earnings reports have been mostly positive, economic data has shown mixed results. Minutes from the Fed's most recent meeting in October indicated strong divisions among policymakers regarding future interest rate moves.

Treasury yields remained steady, with the 10-year yield at 4.01%. In European markets, Germany's DAX rose 0.3% ahead of expected inflation data, while Britain's FTSE 100 edged up 0.3% due to gains in energy and mining stocks.

France's CAC 40 saw a 0.2% increase, and Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 0.2% higher, rebounding from earlier losses. Data revealed that Japan's housing starts rose 3.2% in October compared to the previous year, marking the first annual increase since March, contrary to market expectations of a 5.2% decline.

However, South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.5% as the country's industrial production fell 4% month-on-month in October, a sharper decline than the 1.1% fall recorded in September. As retailers gear up for Cyber Monday, major players like Amazon and Walmart are expected to offer significant discounts, although concerns about inflation and consumer confidence persist, impacting consumer spending decisions as reported by Fortune.