The stock market enjoyed some Black Friday cheer in a holiday-shortened trading session, rising solidly as shoppers braved the annual post-Thanksgiving retail rush. Major stock indexes closed one of their best weeks of the year.
Technology stocks surged after a few weeks of selling. Early reports from retailers suggested strong consumer spending.
“Foot traffic appears heavier than we’ve seen in recent years, there are a lot of positive statements out of the companies themselves and momentum appears to be strong,” said Joe Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist at the brokerage firm TD Ameritrade.
Many stores opened earlier than ever this year, Mr. Kinahan said, allowing for earlier informal reports about their performance.
The Nasdaq composite index rose 40.30 points, or 1.38 percent, to 2,966.85. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 172.79 points, or 1.35 percent, to 13,009.68, the first time since Election Day that the Dow closed above 13,000.
The Standard Poor’s 500-stock index added 18.12 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,409.15. The rally gave the S. P. 500 its biggest weekly point gain since last December — 49 points, or 3.6 percent. The Dow industrials gained 3.3 percent and the Nasdaq 4 percent for the week.
Technology stocks jumped sharply. Dell, Advanced Micro Devices and Hewlett-Packard were the top three gainers in the S. P. Technology rose the most among the index’s 10 industry groups.
The stocks were bouncing back after a broad decline in confidence in tech stocks, Mr. Kinahan said.
Dell rose 49 cents, or 5.41 percent, to $9.55.
A.M.D. jumped 8 cents, or 4.28 percent, to $1.95. The shares dropped sharply in recent weeks as investors fretted about its solvency.
Shares of H.P. plunged 12 percent on Tuesday after executives said a company that H.P. bought for $10 billion last year lied about its finances. H.P. added 50 cents, or 4.19 percent, to $12.44.
Research in Motion jumped $1.40, or 13.65 percent, to $11.66 on growing optimism for an earlier-than-expected introduction of its delayed BlackBerry 10 smartphone. A senior RIM executive said earlier this month that the company would release the new smartphone “not long after” a Jan. 30 event. One analyst saw that as an indication that the products were to be unveiled in February.
Stocks started strong after news that German business confidence rose in November after six consecutive declines.
In the United States, shares of retailers showed strength as shoppers flocked to malls for Black Friday sales, beginning the period in which many retailers turn profitable for the year. Wal-Mart rose $1.31, or 1.9 percent, to $70.20. Macy’s gained 72 cents, or 1.76 percent, to $41.73.
MAP Pharmaceuticals rose $2.60, or 20.28 percent, to $15.42, after the company announced that the Food and Drug Administration would review its experimental migraine drug Levadex.
KIT Digital fell $1.33, or 64.3 percent, to 74 cents, after the video software and technology company’s former chief executive accused it of blaming previous management for its financial problems. Two days earlier, KIT said it would restate its financial results because of accounting errors.
In the bond market, the price of the 10-year note slipped 4/32, to 99 12/32, while its yield edged up to 1.69 percent from 1.68 percent late Wednesday.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/24/business/daily-stock-market-activity.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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