LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - Wall Street continued to push higher alongside a weaker dollar, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both hitting fresh record highs.
Nevertheless, trading volumes were exceptionally light on account of the Thanksgiving holiday.

At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.14% or 31.81 points higher to 23,577.99, alongside a gain of 0.21% or 5.34 points on the S&P 500 to 2,602.42 while the Nasdaq Composite was ahead by 0.32% or 21.80 points at 6,889.16.

Pacing gains in the equity space were: Broadline retailers (1.78%), Semiconductors (0.92%) and Non-ferrous metals (0.77%).

In parallel, the US dollar spot index was 0.47% lower to 92.78, near its lowest level in two months amid indications that Germany's main political parties might be able to thrash out a stable government.

With most traders away from their desks during the holiday-shortened session, the spotlight was on the flow of reports gauging client traffic at retailers on Black Friday, which is widely considered to be a bellwether for trading over the remainder of the holiday period.

CMC Markets UK 's David Madden said: "The S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 has registered fresh record highs as Macy's, Kohl's and Amazon are in high demand as the Black Friday fever sets in. The major shopping day in the US has given a boost to the retail sector.

"[...] US policy makers will be back to business next week also, and investors will want to see some developments in the tax reform. The prospect of a lower corporate tax rate is adding to the bullish sentiment surrounding US stocks."

For her part, London Capital Group analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya said that nearly 70% of Americans were expected to go online or hit the shops over the weekend."

"The pre-sales data indicate a better performance compared to last year; early numbers point at a solid 18% year-on-year increase in November sales so far. US households' holiday spending could increase as much as 4% compared with last year, according to Bloomberg news."

The economic calendar was exceedingly sparse on Friday, with only IHS Markit's manufacturing purchasing managers' index for November out earlier.

In the event, the PMI retreated to a reading of 53.8 for November (consensus: 55.0), down from a print of 54.6 in October.

Dow Jones - Risers

General Electric Co. (GE) $18.19 2.02%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $116.51 1.16%
Visa Inc. (V) $111.97 1.04%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $212.51 0.61%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $138.01 0.52%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $59.32 0.42%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $81.42 0.39%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $44.75 0.22%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $96.62 0.22%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $83.26 0.18%

Dow Jones - Fallers

American Express Co. (AXP) $93.48 -0.99%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $235.95 -0.87%
Boeing Co. (BA) $265.88 -0.42%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $102.64 -0.35%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $98.32 -0.32%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $172.33 -0.31%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $47.01 -0.19%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $137.39 -0.15%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $71.16 -0.14%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $129.83 -0.14%

S&P 500 - Risers

Deere & Co. (DE) $145.50 4.50%
GameStop Corp. (GME) $17.42 4.12%
DaVita Inc (DVA) $57.15 3.59%
Centene Corp. (CNC) $97.17 3.46%
Hess Corp. (HES) $44.40 3.09%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $3.92 2.89%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $1,186.00 2.58%
Broadcom Limited (AVGO) $282.38 2.55%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $29.21 2.47%
Amerisource Bergen Corp. (ABC) $81.23 2.23%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Signet Jewelers Ltd (SIG) $49.80 -6.04%
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $7.45 -5.70%
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) $13.32 -5.67%
HP Inc (HPQ) $21.24 -5.43%
CenturyLink Inc. (CTL) $13.84 -4.75%
SCANA Corp. (SCG) $41.86 -3.76%
Spectra Energy Corp. (SE) $13.33 -3.62%
Target Corp. (TGT) $55.88 -2.80%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $6.17 -2.53%
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (JEC) $63.29 -2.30%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $1,186.00 2.58%
Broadcom Limited (AVGO) $282.38 2.55%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $271.38 2.06%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $153.91 1.50%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $66.03 1.37%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $129.50 1.35%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $78.57 1.29%
Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $99.30 1.24%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $68.91 1.14%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $109.75 1.11%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $17.50 -1.63%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $328.98 -1.58%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class C (DISCK) $16.46 -1.56%
Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $61.18 -1.51%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $35.87 -1.48%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $70.28 -1.47%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $26.29 -1.46%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $39.21 -1.46%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $98.38 -1.39%
PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $66.94 -1.37%

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