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

Colt CZ SE

24/11/2023 18:00

* 
      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
    

  
 (Updates to U.S. market close)
    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 essentially unchanged, 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.  
    Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average  .DJI  rose
117.58 points, or 0.33%, to 35,390.61, the S&P 500  .SPX  gained
2.72 points, or 0.06%, to 4,559.34 and the Nasdaq Composite
 .IXIC  dropped 15.00 points, or 0.11%, to 14,250.86.
    Nvidia  NVDA.O  dipped after Reuters reported a delay in the
launch of the company's new China-focused AI chip designed to
comply with U.S. export rules until the first quarter of 2024.
    IRobot  IRBT.O  surged 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 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
after Volkswagen  VOWG_p.DE  said it will develop a new platform
for entry-level electric vehicles in China.
    

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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;))