ASX set for positive start to week; Wall Street mixed

Stocks drifted to a mixed finish Friday after a half-day trading session capped a holiday shortened week that left the major indexes with their fourth straight winning week.

The S&P 500 inched up 0.1 per cent after wavering between small gains and losses much of the day. The Dow Jones added 0.3 per cent and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1 per cent. The Australian sharemarket is set to advance, with futures pointing to a gain of 15 points, or 0.2 per cent, at the open.

Trading was muted as markets reopened following the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. Gains in health care, financial, energy and other sectors helped temper losses in technology and communication services stocks.

Chipmaker Nvidia and Google parent Alphabet were among the biggest decliners, losing 1.9 per cent and 1.3 per cent, respectively. Among the big gainers in the S&P 500 were CF Industries, which rose 2.6 per cent, and Best Buy, which closed 2.2 per cent higher.

The major stock indexes’ latest weekly gains reflect a turnaround in the market’s sentiment in November following a three-month slide. Traders have grown cautiously optimistic that inflation has cooled enough for the Federal Reserve to finally be done with its market-crunching hikes to interest rates.

Forecasts for a potential recession have been pushed further out into 2024 while also being softened. The rate of inflation continues to ease, consumer spending remains solid and the economy is generally humming along. That has encouraged hopes, and bets, that the Federal Reserve might even consider cutting rates.

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Fed officials, though, have said the outlook for the economy remains uncertain and they’ll make upcoming decisions on rates based on incoming reports. The Fed will get another big update next week when the government releases its October report for a key inflation measure tracked by the central bank.

In the bond market, Treasury yields broadly rose Friday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences interest rates on mortgages and other loans, rose to 4.47 per cent from 4.41 per cent late on Wednesday. The yield on the 2-year Treasury rose to 4.95 per cent from 4.90 per cent late Wednesday.