Review & Preview: The Rally Returns

Nov 21, 2025 19:25:00 -0500 by Alex Eule | #Markets #Review & Preview

Back to Buying. Stocks rallied to the end the week after a bruising stretch of declines. The S&P 500 ended the day up 1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 493 points, or 1.1%.

The rally was arguably better than those numbers suggest. For one, the S&P 500 was up closer to 2% in the middle of the afternoon, a sign that investors had finally started to buy on the dip after days of worries about tech valuations and Federal Reserve policy. But, perhaps more important to market health, Friday’s rally was all-encompassing.

Some 447 stocks in the S&P 500 finished the day higher. In the Dow, 25 of 30 stocks rose. After a stretch in which the largest tech stocks have driven markets higher, today’s breadth could be a good sign for markets going forward.

The broad rally was driven in part by new hope for another rate cut as soon as mid December. New York Fed President John Williams called monetary policy “modestly restrictive” and said ‘I still see room for a further adjustment in the near term to the target range for the federal-funds rate.”

Futures market odds for a quarter-point rate cut jumped to 70% on the news, up from 39% yesterday. That move alone was enough to bring stock buyers off the sidelines.

Still, the AI focused stocks that have driven much of this week’s selloff continued to underperform. Nvidia fell 1% today. Oracle was off 5.7%. Microsoft fell 1.3%.

One major exception came from Alphabet, which finished up 3.5%, passing Microsoft to become the world’s third-largest company.

Until recently, Google-parent Alphabet was seen as an AI laggard, with more to lose from the new technology than gain. But the launch of its new AI model called Gemini 3 has solidified the company’s role as a major player in the AI wars. Alphabet has a rich source of funds in its massive advertising business, while rival OpenAI is likely to need more debt, stock issuance, and other creative forms of financing to pay for its AI models.

If investors are worried about an AI bubble and future capital outlays, Alphabet is suddenly in the driver’s seat.

Company

Last

Chg

Chg%

Dow Jones Industrial Average

46,460.89

215.48

0.47%

S&P 500 Index

6,704.40

101.41

1.54%

NASDAQ Composite Index

22,859.58

586.50

2.63%

Market Data as of

The Hot Stock: Ross Stores +8.4%
The Biggest Loser: Oracle -5.7%

Best Sector: Materials +2.2%
Worst Sector: Utilities +0.2%

Created with Highcharts 9.0.1Friday, Nov. 21Index performanceSource: FactSetAs of Nov. 25, 3:50 p.m. ET

Created with Highcharts 9.0.1Nov. 25-1.5-1.0-0.500.51.01.52.0%Dow industrialsS&P 500Nasdaq Composite

This Weekend’s Magazine

Photo: Illustration by Jiayi LI

The Calendar

It will be a holiday shortened week, with markets closed Thursday for Thanksgiving and closing early on Friday.

Next week’s limited calendar includes Tuesday’s release of September retail sales and the producer price index, from the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics, respectively. On Wednesday, the Census Bureau reports September durable goods and the Fed releases its final beige book for the year.

The strong third-quarter earnings season is winding down. Zoom Communications will release results on Monday, Dell Technologies and HP Inc. on Tuesday, and Deere on Wednesday.

Roughly 95% of S&P 500 companies have reported results with more than 80% of them exceeding earnings-per-share estimates and about 75% surpassing sales expectations.

What We’re Reading Today

Join Barron’s Live at noon on Monday. If you can chart it, technical analyst Andrew Addison can analyze it. Andy, proprietor of The Institutional View research service, joins Barron’s Lauren Rublin and Ben Levisohn for an in-depth technical look at stocks, bonds, commodities, volatility, and economic trends. In Andy’s words, “we are at a fascinating juncture in the markets.” Together, we’ll learn where he thinks they are headed.

Barron’s Live features timely and actionable insights for investors. We give you behind-the-scenes conversations with the newsroom, connecting you with our editors and reporters covering the markets, the economy, and more.