Stock market today: Nasdaq, S&P 500, Dow rise toward a 5th straight day of gains to cap a rocky month

Market Performance - US stocks experienced small gains on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average leading the market higher by approximately 0.6% [1] - The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 rose by roughly 4% [1] - Despite the gains, Wall Street indexes faced a losing month, with the S&P 500 slightly lower and on track to end a six-month winning streak, while the Nasdaq was down 2% and set to snap a seven-month run of gains [4] Trading Operations - The Chicago Mercantile Exchange restored trading operations after a significant outage that disrupted live trading in futures and options across various markets, including US Treasurys and crude oil [2] - The outage lasted until 8:30 a.m. ET, when the CME announced the issue was resolved [2] Investor Sentiment - Stocks rebounded sharply as traders increased bets on a potential interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve at its upcoming meeting in December [3] - Renewed confidence in AI-related stocks provided support for technology companies leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday trading shutdown [3] Future Predictions - Analysts are releasing stock-market predictions for the upcoming year, with Deutsche Bank setting a target for the S&P 500 at 8,000 by the end of 2026, while HSBC and JPMorgan expect it to hover around 7,500 [5] - Markets were scheduled to close early on Friday, with no major earnings or economic data releases anticipated [5]