US STOCKS-Wall St ends mixed in truncated Black Friday trading

Colt CZ SE

24/11/2023 18:27

* 
      Nvidia down as Reuters reports AI chip launch delay in
China 
    

        * 
      iRobot up on report Amazon wins EU approval for takeover
    

        * 
      Vista Outdoor gains on Colt CZ's merger offer
    

        * 
      Indexes: Dow up 0.33%, S&P up 0.06%, Nasdaq off 0.11%
    

  
 (Updates with closing prices)
    By Stephen Culp
       NEW YORK, Nov 24 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended little
changed in holiday-shortened trading on Friday, with low volume
and conviction as investors watched the start of the seasonal
shopping season for signs of consumer resiliency.
    The S&P 500  .SPX  closed nominally higher, while the Dow
 .DJI  eked out a modest gain. The Nasdaq  .IXIC  was dragged
slightly lower by weakness in megacap momentum stocks.
    All three indexes notched their fourth consecutive weekly
gains.
    "We had mixed macroeconomic data and the post-Thanksgiving
session is only half a day, so there aren't that many
participants," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at
Spartan Capital Securities in New York. "But we're seeing a
market that's on the right path of a year-end rally."
    Retailers around the world were attempting to attract
millions of shoppers, many offering steep "Black Friday"
discounts the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.
    "Consumers are being very frugal and while they might spend,
they're looking for bargains," Cardillo added. "The higher cost
of money is hitting consumers' pocketbook."
    A survey by NRF, a U.S. retail trade group, showed U.S.
shoppers are planning to spend an average of $875 on holiday
purchases this year, an annual increase of about 5%.
    S&P Global's advance purchasing managers' index (PMI) showed
steady U.S. business activity in November, but private sector
employment declined for the first time in almost 3-1/2 years,
possibly due to the Federal Reserve's restrictive monetary
policy.
    Next week's most anticipated data include the Commerce
Department's second estimate on third-quarter gross domestic
product on Thursday, followed on Friday by its wide-ranging
Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report, which will
provide further clues on the extent of the Fed's rate-hike
impact.
    The focus has increasingly shifted to the likely timing of
the U.S. central bank's first rate cut, which will be largely
determined by the rate at which inflation cools down toward the
Fed's average 2% target.
    New and pending home sales, home prices, consumer prices and
ISM PMI are also expected next week.
    The Dow Jones Industrial Average  .DJI  rose 117.12 points,
or 0.33%, to 35,390.15, the S&P 500  .SPX  gained 2.72 points,
or 0.06%, at 4,559.34 and the Nasdaq Composite  .IXIC  dropped
15.00 points, or 0.11%, to 14,250.86.
        Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, nine ended with
gains, led by healthcare  .SPXHC . Communication services
 .SPLRCL  and tech  .SPLRCT  closed in the red.
  
        Nvidia  NVDA.O  dipped 
    1.9
    % after Reuters reported a 
    delay
     in the launch of the company's China-focused AI chip
designed to comply with U.S. export rules until the first
quarter of 2024.
  
        IRobot  IRBT.O  surged 
    39.
    1
    % in the wake of a 
    report
     that Amazon  AMZN.O  is set to win unconditional EU
antitrust approval for its $1.4 billion acquisition of the robot
vacuum maker.
  
        Vista Outdoor  VSTO.N  advanced 
    3.9
    % after Czech gunmaker Colt CZ Group's  CZG.PR 
cash-and-stock merger offer worth nearly $1.7 billion.
  
        U.S.-listed shares of Chinese EV maker Xpeng  XPEV.N 
jumped 
    6.085
    % after Volkswagen  VOWG_p.DE  said it will develop a new
platform for entry-level electric vehicles in China.
  
        Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a
2.64-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.29-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
  
        The S&P 500 posted 23 new 52-week highs and no new lows;
the Nasdaq Composite recorded 77 new highs and 51 new lows.  
  
        Volume on U.S. exchanges was 4.97 billion shares,
compared with the 10.49 billion average for the full session
over the last 20 trading days.
  
    

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US holiday sales expected to gain pace this year    https://tmsnrt.rs/3FZFTwf
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 (Reporting by Stephen Culp; Additional Reporting by Sruthi
Shankar and Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard
Chang)
 ((stephen.culp@thomsonreuters.com; 646-223-6076;))