Stocks Close Moderately Higher In Abbreviated Session - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Following the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of an abbreviated trading session on Friday. With the upward move, the major averages once again reached new record closing highs.

The major averages ended the session at their best levels of the day. The Dow climbed 68.96 points or 0.4 percent to 19,152.14, the Nasdaq rose 18.24 points or 0.3 percent to 5,398.92 and the S&P 500 advanced 8.63 points or 0.4 percent to 2,213.35.

For the week, the major averages showed strong moves to the upside. The S&P 500 jumped by 1.4 percent, while the Dow and the Nasdaq both surged up by 1.5 percent.

The modest strength on Wall Street extended the upward trend seen in reaction to President-elect Donald Trump's shocking victory earlier this month.

Trading activity on the day was relatively light, however, as many traders remained away from their desks following the holiday.

Most markets across the country were scheduled to close earlier than usual, with the stock markets closing at 1 pm ET.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing that the trade deficit in goods widened much more than expected in October.

The report said the goods deficit widened to $62.0 billion in October from $56.5 billion in September. The deficit had been expected to widen to $59.7 billion.

The wider deficit came as the value of imports climbed by 1.1 percent to $184.1 billion and the value of exports fell by 2.7 percent to $122.1 billion.

Utilities stocks showed a strong move to the upside on the day, driving the Dow Jones Utilities Average up by 1.5 percent. AES Corp. (AES) and American Water Works (AWK) posted notable gains.

Housing, pharmaceutical, and telecom stocks also saw some strength, while most of the other major sectors showed more modest moves.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved to the upside during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed by 0.5 percent.

The major European markets also ended the day modestly higher. While the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both edged up by 0.2 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved modestly lower, extending a recent downward trend. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, has edged up by 1.3 basis points to 2.370 percent.