Wall Street Rides Four-Day Win Streak as December Rate-Cut Hopes Heat Up

Reuters, CNBC, and Bloomberg contributed to this report.

Wall Street kept its mini-comeback going on Wednesday, with all three major indexes logging a fourth straight day of gains as investors piled into the idea that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in December.

• Dow Jones was up about 0.6%;
• S&P 500 gained roughly 0.6%;
• Nasdaq Composite added about 0.7–0.9%, hitting a two-week high.

Big tech and other mega-cap names led the charge, helping erase some of the damage from this month’s earlier selloff.

Fresh economic data gave traders more reason to bet that the Fed is done tightening — and may be ready to ease.

Two key numbers hit Wednesday morning:

• Weekly jobless claims fell to 216,000, below expectations of 225,000 and the lowest level since mid-April.
• A delayed report showed core capital goods orders (a proxy for business investment) rising 0.5% in September, topping forecasts for 0.3%.

So the economy is not collapsing, but it’s also not running hot enough to scare the Fed away from cutting.

“The economy isn’t slipping into recession, but it’s weak enough to allow the Fed another cut,” said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners.

She noted that jobless levels are still elevated enough to give the Fed “headroom” to trim rates.

Traders clearly agree: futures markets now put the odds of a quarter-point rate cut in December at around 80–85%, nearly double what they were a week ago, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Investors were also digesting reports that White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett has emerged as a frontrunner to be the next Fed chair. Hassett is seen as more likely to push for lower interest rates, which could be bullish for stocks — but it also raises familiar concerns about political pressure on the central bank.

Against that backdrop, the market is still bracing for:

• The Fed’s Beige Book, a snapshot of economic conditions;
• More delayed government data filtering out after the recent shutdown.

On the corporate front, earnings and forecasts helped set the tone:

• Dell Technologies rose about 2–3% after issuing upbeat guidance, powered by strong demand for AI servers and data center hardware.
• HP Inc. fell around 2–5% after the PC and printer maker cut its profit outlook and announced plans to lay off up to 10% of its workforce, or roughly 6,000 jobs, as it leans harder into AI and cost-cutting.
• Other retail and tech names — like Urban Outfitters, Autodesk, and AI-related chip plays — were also on traders’ radar, with several posting strong earnings and guidance.

Under the hood, most S&P 500 sectors were in the green, led by information technology and materials. Only communication services and health care were in the red, weighed down in part by weakness in Alphabet after a strong run earlier in the month.

Breadth was solid:

• Advancers beat decliners by roughly 2.5 to 1 on the NYSE;
• On the Nasdaq, winners outpaced losers by almost 2 to 1;
• The S&P 500 notched 14 new 52-week highs and no new lows.

Even with this week’s bounce, November has been rough:

• The S&P 500 is still down around 1% for the month.
• The Nasdaq has dropped about 3%, hurt by concerns that AI and big tech valuations have gotten stretched.
• The Dow is off roughly 1% month-to-date.

Strategists say the pullback looks more like a cooling-off phase after a monster rally in September and October than the start of something uglier.

“Stocks are trying to stage a comeback from the past few weeks of declines, suggesting that dip buyers are still out in full force,” said Clark Bellin of Bellwether Wealth.

He noted that the recent drawdown was only about 4% — well shy of a typical 10% “correction.”

Others, like CFRA’s Sam Stovall, are already looking ahead to 2026 and still see room for the S&P 500 to grind higher if rates trend down through 2026 as many expect.

The rally also comes as Wall Street shifts into holiday mode:

• US markets are closed Thursday for Thanksgiving.
• Friday is a shortened trading day, with the closing bell at 1 p.m. ET.

That means lighter volumes, which can exaggerate price moves — especially with Black Friday and Cyber Monday looming and retailers in the spotlight.

The National Retail Federation expects holiday sales to top $1 trillion for the first time, but results from big-box names like Walmart and Target have been mixed. Shoppers are still spending, but they’re also hunting for deals as tariffs, higher prices, and layoffs squeeze budgets.

For now, Wall Street is betting that:

• The Fed cuts rates in December;
• The labor market stays soft enough to justify it but not so weak that it breaks the economy;
• And AI, big tech, and consumer spending can still carry markets into year-end, even if the ride is a little bumpier than it was in October.

Whether that script holds will depend on the next round of data — and what the Fed actually does when it meets in December.