Financial Markets                      11/24 09:41

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- The U.S. stock market is rising again on Monday, for now at 
least, ahead of a week with shortened trading because of the Thanksgiving 
holiday.

   The S&P 500 climbed 0.9% and added to its jump from Friday. The Dow Jones 
Industrial Average was up 72 points, or 0.2%, as of 10 a.m. Eastern time, and 
the Nasdaq composite was 1.7% higher.

   Stocks got a lift from rising hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut its 
main interest rate again at its next meeting in December, a move that could 
boost the economy and investment prices.

   The market also benefited from strength for stocks caught up in the 
artificial-intelligence frenzy. Alphabet, which has been getting praise for its 
newest Gemini AI model, rose 5.6% and was one of the strongest forces lifting 
the S&P 500. Nvidia slipped 0.3% after bobbing up and down.

   An early gain for the U.S. stock market guarantees nothing, though, as the 
last few weeks have so painfully shown. Stocks have been swinging sharply, not 
just day to day but also hour to hour, as worries weigh about what the Fed will 
do with interest rates and whether too much money is pouring into AI and 
creating a bubble.

   Even within Monday's first 15 minutes of trading, the S&P 500 rallied to a 
gain of 1% and then halved it.

   All the uncertainty is creating the biggest test for investors since an 
April sell-off, when President Donald Trump shocked the world with his 
"Liberation Day" tariffs. Still, despite all the recent fear, the S&P 500 
remains within 3.3% of its record set last month.

   Several more tests lie ahead this week for the market, though none loom as 
large as last week's profit report from Nvidia or the delayed jobs report from 
the U.S. government for September.

   One of the biggest will arrive Tuesday, when the U.S. government will 
deliver data showing how bad inflation was at the wholesale level in September.

   Economists expect it to show a 2.6% rise from a year earlier, the same 
inflation rate as August. A higher-than-expected reading could deter the Fed 
from cutting its main interest rate in December for a third time this year, 
because lower rates can worsen inflation. Some Fed officials have already been 
arguing against a December cut in part because inflation has stubbornly 
remained above their 2% target.

   Traders are nevertheless betting on a nearly 79% probability that the Fed 
will cut rates next month, up from 71% on Friday and from less than a coin 
flip's chance a week ago, according to data from CME Group.

   U.S. markets will be closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday. A day 
later, it's on to the rush of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

   On Wall Street, U.S.-listed shares of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk fell 
8.3% Monday after it reported that its Alzheimer's drug failed to slow 
progression of the disease in a trial.

   Bitcoin, meanwhile, continued it sharp swings. It was sitting near $86,000 
after bouncing between $82,000 and $94,000 over the last week. It was near 
$125,000 last month.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.

   Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 2% for one of the world's biggest moves. It got 
a boost from a 4.7% leap for Alibaba, which has reported strong demand for its 
updated Qwen AI app. Alibaba is due to report earnings on Tuesday.

   In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady. The yield on the 
10-year Treasury eased to 4.04% from 4.06% late Friday.

   ___

   AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

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