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S&P 500 hits record intraday high

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Nvidia ( NVDA ) leads tech stocks, retail stocks edge up

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Applied Therapeutics ( APLT ) plummets after FDA declines drug

approval

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Markets to close at 1:00 p.m. ET

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Indexes up: Dow 0.45%, S&P 500 0.51%, Nasdaq 0.68%

(Updates to midday trading)

By Johann M Cherian, Purvi Agarwal and Saeed Azhar

Nov 29 (Reuters) -

The S&P 500 index hit a record high as Wall Street's main

indexes rose in a shortened Black Friday session, lifted by

select technology stocks, while retail was in focus as the

holiday shopping season kicked off.

Information technology stocks including Nvidia ( NVDA )

helped boost the benchmark S&P 500, while the

industrial and financial sectors lifted the blue-chip Dow.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) gained about 2.4%.

Investors monitored shoppers' response to deep Black Friday

discounts. Adobe Analytics estimated consumers would spend a

record $10.8 billion in online purchases, up 9.9% from Black

Friday last year.

Shares of Target ( TGT ) rose 0.5%, Hasbro ( HAS ) gained

1.2%, Macy's was up almost 1% and Nike ( NKE ) also gained

1%.

As of 11:07 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 201.71 points, or 0.45%, to 44,921.11, the S&P 500

gained 30.88 points, or 0.51%, to 6,029.62 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 130.04 points, or 0.68%, to 19,190.71.

The S&P 500 index breached its last intraday record high of

6,025.42 set on Nov. 26.

"Retailers do a lot of importing. Inventory levels are very

important to their profitability and ability to kind of control

margins, so they will be one of the industries in the (tariffs)

crossfire," said Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird.

"But so far ... (things are) looking pretty solid for the

Black Friday, Cyber Monday sale."

Chip stocks rebounded from Wednesday's declines, sending

the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index up 2.3%.

The small-cap Russell 2000 index rose almost 0.7%

as Treasury bond yields retreated further from multi-month

highs.

Wall Street's main indexes closed lower on Wednesday,

with the Nasdaq leading declines, as technology stocks slumped

on Thanksgiving eve on worries the Federal Reserve may be

cautious about rate cuts following stubbornly strong U.S.

inflation data.

The three main indexes were on track for monthly gains, with

the S&P 500 set for its biggest one-month rise since

November 2023. The Russell 2000 index hit a record high earlier

in the week, on pace for its steepest monthly rise so far this

year.

Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election

earlier this month, along with his Republican Party winning the

majority in both houses of Congress, provided the latest boost

to equities.

Investors were pricing in expectations that Trump's

pro-business policies could spur economic growth and corporate

profits. However, concerns prevailed that they could also stoke

inflation, slow the pace of the Fed's rate cuts and weigh on

global growth.

Traders expect the U.S. central bank to lower borrowing

costs by 25 basis points at its December meeting, but see it

pausing rate cuts in January, the CME Group's FedWatch showed.

Crypto stocks rose as bitcoin climbed 2.5% to about

$97,000. MicroStrategy ( MSTR ) rose 3% and MARA Holdings ( MARA )

surged 11%.

Applied Therapeutics ( APLT ) plunged almost 75% after the

U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve its drug

for the treatment of a rare genetic metabolic disease.

Analysts expect stock moves to be exaggerated by thin

volumes after Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.14-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE. There were 234 new highs and 49 new lows on the

NYSE.

The S&P 500 posted 20 new 52-week highs and no new lows

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 96 new highs and 23 new

lows.