The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied higher on Thursday as more cooling inflation data helped boost the market average higher. The Dow soared over 500 points, while the S&P 500 Index closed 0.4% higher and the Nasdaq Composite dropped roughly 30 points.
Here's how the market settled on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
Driving market moves, the personal consumption expenditures price index reading for October was flat month-to-month and rose by 3% year-over-year, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday, boosting market sentiment and possibly giving the Federal Reserve more signals to hold interest rates at their current level in December and potentially cut rates in 2024.
Beneath the headline, core PCE -- which excludes food and energy prices -- rose 0.2% for the month and 3.5% annually, both below September's increases of 0.3% and 3.7%, respectively.
Despite the mixed market close, all three major averages ended the month with strong gains. The Dow rose more than 8% in November, snapping a three-month losing streak. The S&P 500 also rose more than 8%, while the Nasdaq soared about 10% higher -- both posting their best monthly performances since July 2022.
In other economic news, pending sales of existing U.S. homes fell 1.5% in October from September, according to the National Association of Realtors reported on Thursday, marking the lowest level since the NAR began tracking this metric in 2001 -- coming in below pending sales level during the financial crisis in 2008. Sales were also down 8.5% from October 2022.
"Recent weeks' successive declines in mortgage rates will help qualify more home buyers, but limited housing inventory is significantly preventing housing demand from fully being satisfied," Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR, said in a release. "Multiple offers, of course, yield only one winner, with the rest left to continue their search."
Separately, initial weekly unemployment claims rose to 218,000 for the week ended Nov. 25, the Labor Department reported Thursday, marking an increase of 7,000 from the previous period but still coming in slightly below estimates. Continuing jobless claims rose to 1.93 million, increasing by 86,000 and posting the highest level for the metric since Nov. 2021, the Labor Department reports.
On the earnings front, Salesforce
"We had another strong quarter of executing on our profitable growth plan we set in motion last year, delivering $8.7 billion in revenue and again raising our operating margin guidance for this fiscal year," CEO Marc Benioff said in a statement.
Looking ahead, market participants will kick-off December with readings of the S&P Global manufacturing PMI and ISM manufacturing index for November, as well as Fedspeak including remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
