Investors are heading into the Thanksgiving holiday in a cheery mood as stocks continued to extend this year’s record-breaking run.
The Dow and S&P 500 inched higher and closed at new records Wednesday. The Nasdaqalso gained ground and finished at its highest level since September 2000.
November has been another solid month in what’s been a stellar year for stocks. The Dow has advanced 3.5% while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have increased 3%. All three indexes have surpassed key milestones. The Dow is above 16,000, the S&P 500 is trading above 1,800 and the Nasdaq closed above 4,000 for the first time in 13 years Tuesday.
Year-to-date, these indexes have climbed between 20% and 35% thanks to a slowly recovering economy, solid corporate earnings and bond purchases by the Federal Reserve.
Trading volume was thin on Wednesday, as traders began to escape for the Thanksgiving holiday. The U.S. stock markets are closed Thursday and only open for a half-day of trading on Friday.
But traders were watching the Bitcoin market closely. The price of the virtual currencytopped $1,000 for the first time Wednesday morning.
The price of one Bitcoin has surged 78-fold in 2013 on hopes the experiment in digital money will eventually become a legitimate global currency. Traders on StockTwits acknowledged that chatter about a Bitcoin bubble has been going on for months, but many still remained intrigued by the massive run-up in the virtual currency.
“$BCOIN Incredibly cheap or incredibly expensive?” asked zagnut. “Makes for a great speculative investment. A small one. :)”
Some traders think the currency’s value could continue to grow in the near future.
“$BCOIN It wouldn’t shock me the slightest to see it at $1,500 near term,” saidCashtrend.
