Wall St Week Ahead: Black Friday puts focus on consumer spending

Stock market performance could factor into how consumers spend over the holidays, particularly those with higher incomes who are more invested in equities. — Reuters

NEW YORK: With US stocks in the midst of a grim month, investors will look in the coming week for signs of strength in the US consumer with Black Friday putting the spotlight on the holiday shopping season.

The rally in stocks has stalled in November, with the benchmark S&P 500 declining more than 4% so far during the month. Strong quarterly results from semiconductor giant Nvidia Corp failed on Thursday to calm markets, which have been rattled by concerns about elevated valuations and questions about returns on massive corporate investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure.