By Ankika Biswas
(Reuters) – The benchmark S&P 500 index rose on Friday, with a focus on retailers, as Black Friday sales kicked off against a backdrop of stubbornly high inflation and cooling economic growth.
Shoppers were expected to turn out in record numbers for the Black Friday deals, but with the bad weather only sparse crowds were seen outside stores on what has historically been the busiest shopping day of the year in the United States. United.
US retail stocks have become a barometer of consumer confidence amid high inflation. The S&P 500 Retail Index was down 0.1% on Friday, taking its year-to-date losses to just over 30%, while the S&P 500 has lost 15% so far this year.
“We will have a higher Black Friday sales number than expected. The reason I think so is that the strength of the US consumer is still being greatly underestimated with full employment and large cash savings,” said Phil Blancato, chief executive of Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management.
Shares in Target Corp, Macy’s Inc and Best Buy Co Inc were mixed performers, while the S&P non-essential consumer index rose 0.3%.
Wall Street’s main indexes have risen sharply since hitting lows in early October. The S&P 500 has gained more than 15% since then, driven by a season of better-than-expected earnings and, more recently, hopes for less aggressive rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
US stock markets close at 3 pm (GMT) on Friday, after being closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving.
At 1:22 pm (Brasília time), the Dow Jones rose 0.52%, to 34,372.90 points. The S&P 500 gained 0.08% to 4,030.31 points, while the Nasdaq fell 0.25% to 11,257.63 points.
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