Stock Market Today: Stocks rally as markets react to Trump Treasury pick

25 Nov 2024, 11:07 by Martin Baccardax · The Fresno Bee

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U.S. equity futures powered higher in early Monday trading, while the dollar had its biggest pullback in two weeks and Treasury bonds rallied, as markets reacted to President-elect Donald Trump choice for Treasury Secretary ahead of a holiday-shortened week.

Trump nominated Scott Bessent to serve as Treasury Secretary over the weekend, a billionaire hedge fund manager who is both respected on Wall Street and seen as a potential offset to some of the President-elect's harsher economic policies.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global currencies, was marked 0.6% lower in the overnight session, its biggest decline in two weeks, and trading at 106.920 on bets that Bessent will act as a break on budget expansion.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields were also lower as bonds reversed some of their inflation-inspired selloff, falling 6 basis points to 4.345%.

Minutes of the Fed's November policy meeting, as well as key readings for October inflation and third quarter GDP, highlight and active holiday-shortened week on Wall Street.Andrew Harnik/Getty Images Andrew HarnikGetty Images/TheStreet

"Bessent is known as a fiscal hawk who has advised Trump to create a “3-3-3" policy, including cutting the budget deficit by 3% of GDP by 2028, pushing GDP growth to 3% via deregulation and pumping extra 3 million barrels of oil each day," Saxo Bank strategists wrote Monday. "He is also expressed that tariffs should be used more as a negotiating tool and implemented more gradually."

Wall Street's early reaction as also been positive, with stock futures suggesting a solid open across the board heading into the Thanksgiving week.

Futures contracts tied to the S&P 500, which ended last week 1.68% higher to take its November gain to 4.63%, suggest a 32 point opening bell gain while those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average are priced for a 315 point advance.

The tech-focused Nasdaq, which gained 1.73% to boost its November gain to 5.02%, is called 135 points higher with Nvidia (NVDA) , Tesla (TSLA) and MicroStrategy (MSTR) shares active in premarket trading.

In overseas markets, European stocks were modestly higher in mid-day Frankfurt trading, with the Stoxx 600 rising 0.07% higher and Britain's FTSE 100 gaining 0.13% in London.

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Overnight in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.3% in a follow-up to last week's rally on Wall Street, while the regional MSCI ex-Japan benchmark gained 0.57% into the close of trading.

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This story was originally published November 25, 2024, 3:07 AM.