Dow Jones Industrial Average Closes Out Black Friday With a Record Win

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed out a holiday-shortened week by touching another record high, amid a relatively low-volume trading session. The S&P 500 Index (SPX), Nasdaq Composite (COMP), and Russell 2000 Index (RUT) also set new record peaks, marking the third time this week the foursome has simultaneously notched these notable milestones. Retail stocks were in focus, as the annual Black Friday shopping event got underway. And while utilities led the path higher, energy shares lagged as oil prices retreated ahead of next week's Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting.

Continue reading for more on today's market, including:

• The bond signal pointing to more S&P highs ahead.
• Why one analyst thinks Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is "one of the best positioned tech companies ... this holiday season."
• 2 sectors that won big this week.
• Plus... Amazon and Netflix in the spotlight, 2 bouncing biotechs, and the 25 most overbought S&P stocks.
  

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA - 19,152.14) settled up 69 points, or 0.4%, to end at a record closing high. Cisco Systems, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:CSCO) 1.2% pop pacing the 24 Dow advancers. On the flip side, UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) led the five decliners lower with its 0.5% loss, while Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) was unchanged. For the week, the Dow added 1.5%.

The S&P 500 Index (SPX - 2,213.35) rose 8.6 points, or 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite (COMP - 5,398.92) tacked on 18.2 points, or 0.3%. Week-over-week, the SPX and COMP both added 1.4%, and both indexes joined the Dow in finishing the session at all-time highs.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX - 12.37) shed 0.06 point, or 0.5%. On a weekly basis, the market's "fear gauge" gave back 3.7% -- and notched its lowest weekly close since Sept. 23.

5 Items on Our Radar Today

1. U.S. shoppers tallied roughly $1.2 billion in online sales by 5 p.m. ET on Thansksgiving, according to Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE) -- up almost 14% from last year, and on track to topple $2 billion. What's more, $449 million in sales came from mobile devices -- a record amount, and a nearly 59% year-over-year increase. (Tech Crunch)
2. In an effort to keep up with Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), fellow retailers Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) and Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) are offering shoppers steeper discounts than last year, while also attempting to lure more online shoppers. TGT, meanwhile, posted record online sales ahead of Black Friday.  (Bloomberg)
3. Black Friday and Cyber Monday have AMZN stock in focus, while a "Gilmore Girls" revival has Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) in the spotlight.
4. These 2 biotechs bounced back from Wednesday's drubbing, even after a round of bearish brokerage notes.
5. The 25 most overbought S&P stocks, courtesy of Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White.

 

Data courtesy of Trade-Alert

Commodities:

Oil prices are spiraling, as anxiety grows ahead of next week's OPEC meeting, in which a crude production cut is expected to be discussed. At last check, crude futures for January delivery were down $1.69, or 3.5%, at $46.28 per barrel, but on track for a 3% weekly win.

Gold futures fell to a fresh nine-month low earlier, even as the U.S. dollar retreated from recent highs. December-dated gold was most recently seen trading down $9.10, or 0.8%, at $1,183.30 an ounce -- on pace to settle the week down 2.1%.