Dow Jones closes higher, marking seventh monthly profit in row

US stock indexes rose on Friday after a technical issue affecting futures trading was resolved, allowing bets on a Federal Reserve rate cut to continue and supporting demand for high-risk assets.

Following the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, Wall Street is set to close early today, with normal trading hours resuming next week.

US authorities halted stock futures trading for several hours earlier in the day due to a cooling-system malfunction at a CyrusOne data center used by CME Group. The exchange operator confirmed that the issue was fixed and trading had resumed.

Speculation around the Federal Reserve’s policy stance in next month’s meeting continues to build. According to CME FedWatch, the probability of a rate cut in December has risen to 83%, up from 50% a week ago.

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said this week that a rate cut in December is necessary, though he noted that the January decision may be more challenging due to a backlog of delayed economic data.

At the close of the session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6% (289 points) to 47,716, posting a weekly gain of 3.2% and a monthly gain of 0.3%, with an intraday high of 47,750 and a low of 47,475.

The broader S&P 500 climbed 0.5% (36 points) to 6,849, recording a weekly gain of 3.7% and a monthly gain of 0.1%, reaching a high of 6,850 and a low of 6,819.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6% (151 points) to 23,365, jumping 4.9% for the week but logging a monthly loss of 1.5%, with an intraday high of 23,365 and a low of 23,250.