UNB, New York :
US stocks set more records in quiet post-holiday trading Friday as technology companies again did much of the heavy lifting. Energy companies rose with the price of oil.
Macy’s and some of its retail counterparts rose after the department store’s CEO said Black Friday sales were going well. Online titan Amazon made an even bigger gain. Oil prices and energy companies rose after Bloomberg reported that a group of key oil producers plans to extend production cuts until the end of 2018.
“If you take the cumulative effect of online and foot traffic going into the stores, it’s showing you a robust consumer spending pattern,” said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 5.34 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,602.42, its first close above 2,600.
The Dow Jones industrial average added 31.81 points, or 0.1 percent, to 23,557.99. The Nasdaq composite gained 21.80 points, or 0.3 percent, to 6,889.16. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies climbed 2.40 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,519.16.
The Dow finished slightly below its record high from Tuesday but the other major indexes closed at all-time highs. Trading ended early after the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.
Macy’s CEO Jeffrey Gennette told CNBC holiday shopping is off to a good start with relatively few discounts and strong sales of some especially profitable products like winter clothing.
