NEW YORK — Stocks are higher as Wall Street puts the finishing touches on one of its best months of the year.

The S&P rose 0.7% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 306 points, or 0.7%, as of 12:05 p.m., ET, on Friday. The Nasdaq added 0.8% and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 0.4%.

Friday is an abbreviated trading day — stock markets close at 1 p.m. ET and the bond market closes an hour later.

Investors are waiting to see how willing shoppers are to spend on gifts for the holidays. Black Friday unofficially kicks off the holiday shopping season, although retailers have offered early deals for weeks. Macy’s rose 1.9% and Best Buy gained 2.8% while Nordstrom fell 0.6%.

Apple rose 0.8%. The technology giant is hoping recently added artificial intelligence features are enough to entice consumers to treat themselves or their relatives to a new iPhone for the holidays.

The Dow is up nearly 8% this month, easily on pace for its best month of 2024. The Walt Disney Co. has the biggest percentage gain for November at 22%, but the price-weighted index also got a boost from Goldman Sachs, up 16.7%, and Salesforce, up more than 13% for the month.

The S&P 500 has risen more than 6% this month, boosted by Tesla and other stocks that received a boost from Donald Trump’s win in the presidential election. Discover Financial Services leads financials stocks having a good November, up 0.4% Friday and 23.5% for the month. Investors believe the credit card company’s merger with Capital One has a greater chance of going through under Trump.

Tesla shares rose 2.4% Friday and have gained more than 36% in November. The electric vehicle maker is expected to benefit from CEO Elon Musk’s support of Trump.

Bond yields fell, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury slipping to 4.20%.