NEW YORK: Strong gains by Apple, Facebook and other key tech stocks sent the Nasdaq exchange higher Monday while the Dow and S&P 500 sagged.
The US markets were generally feeble on the first session after a slow Thanksgiving holiday week, with the jury still out over how strong the crucial Black Friday holiday sales went for retailers.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 42.31 points (0.33 per cent) at 12,967.37.
The broad-market S&P 500 lost 2.86 (0.20 per cent) at 1,406.29, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 9.93 (0.33 per cent) to 2,976.78.
A pumped-up Facebook soared 8.1 per cent to $25.94 after analysts at longtime skeptics Bernstein Research gave the company a "like," setting a $33 target for the price.
That, combined with Apple's 3.2 per cent surge to $589.53, drove the Nasdaq's gain.
Retailers dependent on physical stores were mostly lower, with Walmart losing 0.4 per cent, Costco 1.7 per cent, and Target 2.6 per cent.
The first weekend of the holiday sales period, kicked off with last week's Black Friday shopping bonanza, was strong, businesses said, but many were reported concerned that consumer spending might not be sustained over the next month.
But online retailers were higher, Amazon gaining 1.6 per cent and eBay adding 4.9 per cent, after Friday's online sales topped $1 billion for the first time.
Among the Dow blue chips, Coca-Cola topped losers with a 1.5 per cent fall while Hewlett-Packard led a handful of gainers, adding 2.4 per cent.
Bond prices rose. The 10-year US Treasury yield dropped to 1.66 per cent from 1.69 per cent Friday, and the 30-year fell to 2.80 per cent from 2.83 per cent.
- AFP/fa
Dow, S&P end lower but Apple boosts Nasdaq
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Dow, S&P end lower but Apple boosts Nasdaq
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Dow, S&P end lower but Apple boosts Nasdaq
