U.S. stocks finished off their best month in a year on Friday, with the Dow and S&P 500 clinching fresh record closing highs to cap off a blockbuster November. The Russell 2000 finished Friday just shy of what would have been its first record close since November 2021.

Stocks opened Friday in positive territory and stayed there through the early close. Volume was understandably light on Black Friday, but those who did show up for the abbreviated session were in the mood to buy tech stocks,

"There were some warning signs from Target, but if you look at personal income and retail sales, they have been strong all year," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities, in an interview. "That suggests the consumer has buying power."

Target’s stock was down more than 20% in afternoon trading, compared with a 0.6% decline for the S&P 500 index, according to FactSet data, at last check. The S&P 500’s consumer-staples sector was slumping 0.4% on Wednesday afternoon.