**Stock Market Sees Fourth Consecutive Week of Gains**
*Traders react to the market’s positive performance*
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and other major averages notched a four-week winning streak as the stock market closed on Friday. Investors across the nation closely monitored the movements of overall stock prices and individual shares in various sectors.
### The Market’s Ups and Downs
The 30-stock Dow rose 117.12 points, or 0.33%, to 35,390.15, reflecting the upward trend in the stock market. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 ticked higher by 0.06% to end at 4,559.34. However, the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.11%, closing at 14,250.85, marking a slight decline.
### Retail Shares on the Rise
Major retail shares saw a slight increase as Black Friday kicked off the holiday shopping season. Walmart and Target both rose by 0.9% and 0.74%, respectively, while Amazon ticked higher by 0.02%, indicating a positive start to the retail numbers.
### Analysts’ Forecast
Based on the analysis of retail data, TD Cowen retail analyst Oliver Chen forecasted flat traffic trends this Black Friday as budget-conscious consumers pulled back and prioritized gifts for others over self-purchases.
### Market Performance and Yields
For the week, the Dow gained 1.27%, while the S&P 500 advanced 1%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.89%. The week marked the fourth consecutive positive week for the major averages — the longest for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq since June. The Dow, however, hasn’t posted a weekly run this long since April.
### Treasury Yields and Market Expectations
The U.S. stock market closed at 1 p.m., with the major averages closing higher after the 10-year Treasury yield fell to levels not seen since September. Treasury yields hit multimonth lows, leading to hopes that inflation is cooling and the Federal Reserve may be done raising rates. The benchmark rate was up 6 basis points at around 4.476% on Friday. Market analysts noted that the market’s expectation for the volatility of interest rates is continuing to collapse, indicating that the equity market can handle the 4% to 5% rates that are expected for 2024 across the curve.
### Conclusion
The positive performance of the stock market and individual shares brought optimism to investors and traders. The cumulative effect of the positive movement in the stock market has set a positive tone for the upcoming trading weeks. Market-watchers will be closely observing how retail sales and the general market conditions evolve in the coming weeks.
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