US stocks were mixed on Friday amid lower trading volume following the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose about 0.1%, or about 40 points, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was little changed after the market closed on Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC), which is dominated by technology stocks, lagged, down about 0.2%.
All eyes will be on retailers as Black Friday kicks off the holiday shopping season, after big-box chains like Target (TGT) and Walmart (WMT) warned that low-ticket consumers are spending with caution. Retailers are going earlier and longer on holiday promotions as shoppers become selective.
Meanwhile, disagreement in OPEC+ dampened crude oil prices after the group of oil-producing countries said it would hold its next meeting online. Bloomberg reported that the meeting, which was to discuss production, was postponed due to a dispute between Saudi Arabia and the African members regarding quotas.
Brent crude futures settled broadly above $81 per barrel, after falling 1.3% in the last two sessions. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell about 1% to just over $76 a barrel, after the Thanksgiving holiday.
Nvidia (NVDA) stock was in focus after Reuters reported that the company had delayed the launch of an AI chip in China designed to comply with US export restrictions. In its earnings this week, Nvidia indicated that the new US restrictions would affect its results. The chipmaker’s shares swung on either side of the flat line on Friday.
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