Wall Street ends short trading session on mixed note
The Nasdaq closed lower on Friday amid pressure from Apple in a subdued holiday-shortened trading session for Wall Street, as investors watched Black Friday sales and Covid-19 cases in China. Apple fell 2 percent on news of reduced iPhone shipments from a Foxconn plant in China in November.  The session focused on retailers as Black Friday sales kicked off against the backdrop of stubbornly high inflation and cooling economic growth. Shoppers were expected to turn out in record numbers to shop for Black Friday deals, but with inclement weather, crowds outside stores were thin on what is traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year. US retail stocks have become a barometer of consumer confidence as inflation bites. So far this year, the S&P 500 retail index is down a little over 30 percent, while the S&P 500 has fallen 15 percent. Shares of retailers Target, Macy's and Best Buy were mixed, while the S&P consumer discretionary index rose slightly. Wall street's main indexes have rallied strongly from their early October lows, with the S&P 500 up more than 15 percent on a boost from a better-than-expected earnings season and more recently on hopes of less aggressive interest rates hikes by the US Federal Reserve. Analysts now see a 71.1 percent chance that the Fed will increase its key benchmark rate by 50 basis points in December, with rates peaking in June 2023. The Dow Jones rose 0.45 percent to 34,347, the S&P 500 lost 0.03 percent, to 4,026, and the Nasdaq dropped 0.52 percent to 11,226. (Reuters)