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Consumer sentiment rises in November

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Major U.S. indexes notch weekly gains

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China ADRs fall after stimulus measures disappoint

(Updates to market close)

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK, Nov 8 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 briefly

surpassed the 6,000 mark and closed with its biggest weekly

percentage gain in a year, as Donald Trump's election victory

and a possible Republican Party sweep in Congress fueled

expectations for favorable business policies.

Also supporting stocks this week was a widely expected

interest rate cut of 25 basis points by the Federal Reserve on

Thursday.

The S&P 500 and the Dow Industrials were on track for

their best weekly percentage jump since early November 2023,

with the Nasdaq on pace for its best in two months and

second-best week of 2024.

Investors were also monitoring for a likely "Red Sweep" as

Republicans were set to keep their narrow lead in the House of

Representatives after winning control of the Senate. That would

make it easier for Trump to enact his legislative plans.

Expectations for lower corporate taxes and deregulation

under Trump have helped push the benchmark S&P index and the Dow

to intraday record highs for the three straight sessions. The

S&P is on track to secure its 50th record close of the year.

"It is a psychologically important number but with all the

developments this week, I don't think it's terribly important if

we close at 6,005 or if we close at 5,995. The market is way up

this week," said Mike Dickson, head of research and quantitative

strategies at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"There's been so many things, so much good news for the

market this week as evidenced by the prices. All of that far

outweighs whether or not we're on the right or left hand side of

that 6,000 number when the close happens."

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500

gained 23.52 points, or 0.39%, to end at 5,996.62 points,

while the Nasdaq Composite gained 17.20 points, or

0.09%, to 19,286.66. The Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 269.39 points, or 0.62%, to 43,998.73.

The Dow rose above 44,000 for the first time, in part due to

a late boost from Salesforce ( CRM ), after Bloomberg reported

the software company will hire 1,000 employees to promote its

artificial intelligence Agentforce Tool.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq secured their fourth straight session

of gains.

Rate-sensitive sectors such as real estate and

utilities were the best performing of the 11 major S&P

500 groups as Treasury yields fell for a second straight session

after a sharp jump following the election.

But the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield

remained near a four-month high, and markets have

scaled back expectations for the pace of Fed rate cuts in 2025

as concerns remain over the incoming administration's proposed

tariffs which are likely to rekindle inflation.

The small cap Russell 2000 also advanced, registering

its biggest weekly percentage gain in 4-1/2 years, as

domestically concentrated stocks are seen as likely to benefit

from easier regulations, lower taxes and less exposure to import

tariffs.

U.S. consumer sentiment rose to a seven-month high in early

November, with a measure of households' expectations for the

future climbing to the highest in more than three years, led by

brightening outlooks among Republicans, the University of

Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index showed.

Airbnb ( ABNB ) shares dropped after the homestay company

missed third-quarter profit estimates, while social media

company Pinterest ( PINS ) slumped after a disappointing revenue

forecast.

U.S.-listings of Chinese companies lost ground as the

government's latest fiscal support measures once again failed to

impress investors. JD.com ( JD ) and Alibaba ( BABA ) both

declined sharply.