Moves were tight as traders assessed a bumpy month for equities. A sharp pullback in megacap tech dragged major indexes into negative territory for November. The Dow and S&P 500 both slipped slightly for the month. The Nasdaq dropped 2%, snapping a seven-month winning streak.
Market sentiment improved this week as traders increased bets that the Federal Reserve will cut rates at its December meeting. Futures pricing now reflects more than an 80% probability of a quarter-point cut.
Renewed optimism in AI stocks also helped sentiment, though Thursday’s Thanksgiving break paused momentum.
CME Group confirmed a cooling system failure at its CyrusOne data centers. The outage forced a full halt in futures and options trading for several hours. Liquidity vanished across multiple markets, including S&P 500 futures, Dow futures, Treasury futures, crude oil, gasoline, and agriculture contracts.
The disruption extended into Asian hours. The last trades in West Texas Intermediate crude (CL=F) printed at 10:47 a.m. Singapore time before the freeze. Foreign-exchange platform EBS was also impacted. CME said support teams were working to restore systems and would update clients with pre-open guidance.
Top pre-market gainers today
Several active stocks posted sharp gains before the opening bell. CDT Equity Inc. climbed to $2.39, up 15.46%, on 1M shares traded, moving within a 52-week range of $1.61–$2,198.40. SMX (Security Matters) delivered one of the strongest moves. The stock surged 78.16% to $31, with 608K shares traded, holding an unusually wide 52-week range of $3.12–$66,187.31.
Crypto-linked names also advanced. Bitfarms (BITF) rose 3.55% to $3.21 on 338K volume, while BitMine (BMNR) jumped 4.51% to $33.17 on 291K shares.
The AI and semiconductor theme stayed active. Micron (MU) traded at $237.71, up 3.24% on 116K volume, staying near the top end of its $61.54–$260.58 yearly range.
Tech stocks see mixed action before market open
Tech leaders were mixed but active. NVIDIA (NVDA) traded almost flat at $180.25, down just 0.01%, with early volume of 281K.
Cleanspark (CLSK) gained 4.09% to $14, while Circle Internet Group (CRCL) moved to $74.80, up 2.97% on 136K shares.
MARA Holdings added 2.79% to $11.42.
SanDisk (SNDK) posted a firm jump of 5.77% to $227.44 on 112K shares, reinforcing the strength in storage and chip-related names.
Gold futures (GC=F) pushed higher despite choppy liquidity caused by the CME outage. Bullion hovered near $4,160 an ounce, up over 2% for the week. The metal is now on track for a fourth straight monthly gain.
Lower borrowing-cost expectations lifted demand as gold benefits when rates decline. Fresh comments from Fed officials, along with delayed US economic data, strengthened the case for a December cut.
Oil prices slide into their longest losing streak since 2023
Oil prices moved lower again Friday. Brent crude (BZ=F) traded above $63 per barrel, extending a drop that puts it on pace for its fourth straight monthly loss, the longest streak since May 2023.
WTI hovered near $59 before the CME freeze stopped live trading. Markets remain cautious ahead of this weekend’s OPEC+ meeting. Traders are also monitoring US diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the war in Ukraine.
What analysts expect for the S&P 500 in 2026
As November wraps, Wall Street banks have begun releasing early 2026 forecasts. Deutsche Bank projects the S&P 500 could reach 8,000 by late 2026, the most bullish estimate so far. HSBC and JPMorgan expect the index nearer 7,500 under a moderate-growth scenario.
US markets will close early Friday at 1 p.m. ET, with no major economic releases scheduled.
