Stock shares surged as the market began the holiday week

On Monday, Stock futures rose in trading as the holiday-shortened week started. For Wall Street, this period is considered a seasonally strong period.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average’s futures gained 16 points while Nasdaq 100 futures and S&P 500 futures also traded in a positive zone.

On Thursday (Thanksgiving Day), U.S. markets will be closed. On Friday, the stock market closes at 1 p.m. ET.

Stocks have a track record of posting earnings in Thanksgiving week since 1950, potentially setting the frame for a year-end rally.

According to chief investment strategist at CFRA, Sam Stovall, since then, the last five trading days in November have been historically positive. Meanwhile, the strategist said that there is a two-thirds probability the market will increase a day before Thanksgiving Day. And there is a 58% chance of a rise the day after the holiday.

One big market-shaking event will be President Joe Biden’s proposal to nominate the next Federal Reserve chief this week.

Biden will announce his choice in the following days. People expect him to choose most likely from Governor Lael Brainard and the current chairman Jerome Powell.

ClearBridge Investments investment strategist Jeff Schulze said that in his opinion, that might be the biggest driver of current market action. He added that if Brainard becomes a Fed chair, it wouldn’t surprise him to see near-term volatility as the market usually examines a Fed chair.

The S&P 500 went up 0.4% after the earnings reports from big retailers and robust U.S. retail data. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 1.3% last week. However, the blue-chip Dow dropped 1.4% during the period. The S&P 500 is up 3%, posting another positive month. The equity benchmark has increased more than 26% this year.

 

The calendar for the week

Monday

Earnings: Urban Outfitters, Zoom Video, Agilent, Jack in the Box, 

10:00 a.m. Existing home sales

 

Tuesday

Earnings: Dell Technologies, HP, Best Buy, Abercrombie & Fitch, Nordstrom, JM Smucker, Gap, Cracker Barrel, VMWare, American Eagle Outfitters, Dick’s Sporting Goods, AutoDesk, Pure Storage, Dollar Tree

9:40 a.m. Manufacturing PMI

9:40 a.m. Services PMI

 

Wednesday

Earnings: Deere

8:35 a.m. Initial jobless claims

8:35 a.m. Durable goods

8:35 a.m. Real GDP

8:35 a.m. Advance economic indicators

10:30 a.m. Consumer sentiment

10:30 a.m. Personal spending and income, PCE deflator

10:30 a.m. New home sales

2:00 p.m. FOMC meeting 

 

Thursday

Thanksgiving holiday

U.S. markets closed

 

Friday

The stock market closes at 1 p.m.