Both the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) closed higher on Wednesday ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
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Strong performances from tech and retail stocks helped drive the indexes higher. AI-related stocks, like Oracle (ORCL), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and Broadcom (AVGO), all closed higher by at least 3%. Retail stocks, including Lululemon (LULU), Ulta (ULTA), Walmart (WMT), and Nike (NKE), closed with substantial gains as well.
Meanwhile, the Department of Labor reported that initial jobless claims, which serve as a gauge of layoff activity, for the week ended November 22 fell by 6,000 to 216,000, below the estimate of 225,000 and registering the lowest level since April. Furthermore, continuing jobless claims, which track ongoing unemployment benefit recipients, were 1.96 million for the week ended November 15, slightly below the estimate of 1.963 million and rising from a revised 1.953 million during the prior week.
Initial jobless claims have remained steady during the past few months, while continuing jobless claims have risen since September, signaling a continued trend of employers being slow to both hire and fire.
“Jobless claims remain low while continuing claims stay high,” said Schwab Center for Financial Research Chief Fixed Income Strategist Kathy Jones. “The low hiring/low firing job market remains intact.”
In other news, Wall Street continues to issue bullish price targets for the S&P 500 (SPX) in 2026. JPMorgan set its target at 7,500, although the firm believes that the index could exceed 8,000 if the Fed cuts rates aggressively. Lower-than-expected inflation could result in this scenario, with other positive catalysts such as AI innovation and strong earnings growth.
On the other hand, Bank of America set its 2026 SPX price target at 7,100, implying upside of just 4% from current levels. For context, the S&P 500 has historically returned about 10% per year. The firm cited fewer stock buybacks, increased capital expenditures, and a slower pace of rate cuts as risks to the index. At the same time, Bank of America has a bull case price target of 8,500 and a bear case price target of 5,500.
Elsewhere, JPMorgan expects the S&P 500 to rise to 7,500 next year, while Barclays has a target of 7,400.
The S&P 500 (SPX) closed with a 0.69% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) returned 0.87%.
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