Stocks on Wall Street rose modestly on Friday in a short post-holiday session, with the Standard Poor’s 500-stock index set for its longest weekly winning streak in 10 years.
In midday trading the Standard Poor’s 500-stock index was up 0.3 percent, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.3 percent and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6 percent higher.
Volume was light, with slightly over 1.1 billion shares traded on all U.S. platforms, according to BATS exchange data, as many investors remained out following the Thanksgiving holiday. The stock market will end its regular session three hours early following an all-day closure on Thursday.
“It’s just drifting up because at the moment, the path of least resistance is up. There is no news that is going to push it lower,” said Ken Polcari, director of the N.Y.S.E. floor division at O’Neil Securities in New York. “There is nothing negative out there for anyone to take anything off the table.”
In global markets, the Nikkei in Tokyo notched its best November since 2005 despite some late profit-taking in Asia, as the yen, at a five-year against the euro and a six-month low versus the dollar, bolstered hopes for its big exporting firms.
European shares ended their session mixed, with the Euro Stoxx 50 index off 02 percent and Britain’s FTSE 100 0.1 percent higher.
Retail stocks will be in focus in American markets as investors attempt to get an early read on the strength of the holiday shopping season. “Black Friday” sales typically mark the unofficial start to the holiday shopping season, but many stores opened on Thursday and offered steep discounts.
“I’m happy with the size of the crowds I’ve seen so far; it is very important to see the consumer, especially the midlevel consumer, alive and well over the coming weeks,” said Mr. Russell. “The important thing will be whether shoppers stay excited through the season.”
The S.P. retail index rose 0.4 percent. Among some of the most active retail names, Target declined 0.4 percent, Best Buy jumped 1.6 percent, and J.C. Penney gained 0.7 percent.
Equities on Wall Street have surged in recent weeks on the back of expectations for continued stimulus from the Federal Reserve. The Dow and S.P. 500 closed at record highs on Wednesday while the Nasdaq ended at a 13-year high.
The S.P. 500’s eight-week winning streak is the longest run for the benchmark index since a nine-week climb between November 2003 and January 2004.
For the month of November, the Dow is up 3.5 percent, the S.P. is up 2.9 percent and the Nasdaq up 3.2 percent. It is the third straight month of gains for these indexes, with the Dow climbing 8.7 percent over that three-month period, the S.P. up almost 11 percent and the Nasdaq rising 12.7 percent.
For the week, the Dow is up 0.2 percent and the S.P. is up slightly more than 0.1 percent, with both indexes on track for their eighth straight weekly gain. The Nasdaq is up 1.3 percent on the week.
While the Fed’s stimulus program is expected to put a floor under equity prices for as long as it continues, recent volatility has come on uncertainty over when the program will end. The central bank has said it would begin to slow the program when certain economic measures meet its targets. Data on Wednesday, including on the labor market and consumer sentiment, pointed to economic improvement.
In the health care sector, CVS Caremark shares gained 0.6 percent in the wake of Wednesday’s news that CVS would buy drug infusion services provider Coram LLC for $2.1 billion. The transaction will let CVS Caremark bolster its pharmacy benefits management business by offering cost-effective delivery of specialty drugs.
Australia rejected a $2.6 billion takeover of GrainCorp by Archer Daniels Midland, bowing to pressure from grain growers in a rare and surprising decision.Shares in A.D.M. fell 2.6 percent.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/30/business/daily-stock-market-activity.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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