Stocks mixed as investors eye Black Friday sales

Adam Shell | USA TODAY

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks ended mixed as investors were in a shopping mood on Black Friday and Wall Street eyed the critical start to the Christmas holiday shopping period.

Wall Street was on a shortened holiday session Friday and closed for trading at 1 p.m. ET.

The Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 each lost 0.1%. But the Nasdaq composite continued its winning ways, climbing 0.4%.

The major indexes kicked off the trading day in bullish frame of mind. The Dow entered the day up 22.8% in 2013 and at a record level of 16,097.33. The S&P 500 was up 26.7% at a record 1807.23. And the technology-packed Nasdaq composite was at a fresh 13-year high of 4044.75.

Early reports of a heavy shopping presence on Thanksgiving, when many retailers opened early to get a head start on the selling season, and in the wee hours of Black Friday pushed shares of retailers higher.

Shares of electronic gadget seller BestBuy were up 1.7% in early trading, as were shares of Wal-Mart, up 0.4%, Target, up 0.7%, and Macy's, which was 0.5% higher. Internet retail giant Amazon.com was also up, rising 1.2%.

The National Retail Federation is expecting 140 million shoppers to be spending money this weekend, down from 147 million last year. Overall holiday sales are expected to rise 3.9%, vs. 3.4% a year ago, the NRF says.

Early reports from the retail wars were upbeat. Wal-Mart reported 10 million transactions from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving. The world's biggest retailer said demand for flat-screen TVs, tablets and other electronics were strong. Similarly, Target said its online sales yesterday were among the highest it has ever seen in a day.

Online sales were reportedly strong. Thanksgiving online sales rose 19.7%, according to IBM Digital Analytics.

Asia's regional heavyweight benchmark, Japan's Nikkei 225, dropped 0.4% to 15,661.87.

In Europe, shares were relatively flat, with major bourses in Germany and France up 0.1% and shares up 0.3% in London.

Benchmark crude fell 11 cents to $92.19 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have drifted down in recent weeks amid high supplies and as concern over Syria and Iran subsided.

Follow Adam Shell on Twitter: @adamshell.