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 The Standard & Poor's 500 index ended down one point, or 0.1
percent, to 1,805.81. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 10
points, or 0.1 percent, to 16,086.41.
Investors watched for early trends in holiday sales as the busiest
shopping day of the year, Black Friday, got underway. Retailers were
one of two industry groups in the S&P 500 to rise.
Stocks overall have surged this year as the economy maintains a slow
but steady recovery and corporations keep earnings growing. Demand
for stocks also has been bolstered by Federal Reserve policies that
have held down interest rates, making bonds less attractive
investments than stocks.
Stocks rose for most of the day Friday, but petered out in the last
half hour of trading. The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq
closed early, at 1 p.m. Eastern Time, and activity was lower than
average a day after Thanksgiving. Thin trading can lead to sudden
swings in markets.
Although the S&P 500 and Dow slipped, the Nasdaq composite rose 15
points, or 0.4 percent, to end at 4,059.89. The index has surged 34
percent this year, more than the other two indexes.
And even though the S&P 500 eased Friday, it still rose for an
eighth straight week, its longest stretch of weekly advances in a
decade.
The broad stock index saw two of its 10 industry groups rise. One of
them was consumer discretionary companies as investors hoped for
improved holiday sales.
More than a dozen major chains opened on Thanksgiving Day and
planned to keep their doors open through Friday, the traditional
start to the holiday shopping season. Crowds formed early and often
throughout the two days.
Investors will be following sales trends closely to get a read on
the health of retailers, as well as the wider economy. Consumer
spending is a critical component of the U.S. economy.
Retail sales are expected to rise 4 percent to $602 billion during
the last two months of the year, according to the National Retail
Federation. That's higher than last year's 3.5 percent growth, but
lower than the 6 percent pace from before the recession.
But sales could come at the expense of profits, analysts expect, as
retailers are likely to use more discounting to draw in customers.
Shares of EBay, Amazon and Best Buy all advanced. EBay rose $1.22,
or 3 percent, to $50.52, making it the second-biggest gainer in the
S&P 500 index.
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"The early signs of retail traffic are encouraging, but it's still
very early," said Paul Mangus, head of equity research and strategy
for Wells Fargo Private Bank.
The S&P 500 index has surged 26.6 percent this year, propelling it
to a string of record highs. If its gain holds, it would be the
strongest year for the index since 1998, when it rose 26.7 percent.
November is typically a strong month for the stock market, and this
year was no exception. The S&P 500 ended the month with a gain of
2.8 percent, the ninth month this year that the index has advanced.
Returns for the month rank as the third best for the Dow and the S&P
500, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac, which has analyzed
data going back to 1950.
An unexpectedly robust jobs report gave stocks a lift at the start
of the month, and strong corporate earnings reports for the third
quarter helped maintain the momentum.
Almost all of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported their
third-quarter earnings. Profits are forecast to increase by 5.7
percent compared with the same period a year ago, according to data
from S&P Capital IQ. Earnings growth is also better than then 4.9
percent achieved in the second-quarter.
"November is a time when investors evaluate earnings reports, and if
share prices are the yardstick that you're looking at, then
investors liked what they saw," said Lawrence Creatura, a portfolio
manager at Federated Investors.
In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note
rose to 2.75 percent from 2.73 percent on Wednesday.
[Associated
Press; STEVE ROTHWELL, AP Markets Writer]
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