Retail Rally Boosts S&P, Intel Soars; Nvidia Slips

Retail Strength After Black Friday Lifts Major Indexes

U.S. equities opened the week on a constructive footing as robust holiday spending translated into outsized gains for retail stocks and helped lift the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average. Online sales on Black Friday reached an estimated $11.8 billion—roughly a 9.1% increase year-over-year—giving key retailers and payment platforms immediate tailwinds.

Which names led the charge

Large-cap retailers such as Amazon, Target, Home Depot and Walmart typically contribute meaningfully to S&P performance, and this year they benefited from stronger-than-expected consumer spending. Buy-now-pay-later specialist Affirm also stood out: it has historically posted above-average post-Black Friday gains and is trading with positive momentum after a double-digit year-to-date advance.

Index Moves: S&P, Dow, Nasdaq Snapshot

In the latest short trading session following the holiday, the S&P 500 rose about 0.5% while the Dow advanced roughly 0.6%—continuing a multi-day stretch of gains. The Nasdaq climbed approximately 0.7% despite mixed technology performance that left the tech-heavy index behind on a monthly basis.

Tech divergence: winners and laggards

The tape showed a clear bifurcation within technology. Intel surged more than 10% after reports linked it to potential foundry work for a major device maker, catalyzing optimism around chipmakers outside the AI-dominant winners. Conversely, Nvidia—which has led much of this year’s tech rally—pulled back nearly 2% amid profit-taking and broader AI-related rotation that pressured several high-multiple names. Over the month the Nasdaq lagged, recording modest declines as leadership shifted.

Macro Context: Rate-Cut Odds and Market Sentiment

Beyond company news and retail data, traders were also factoring in monetary policy expectations. Fed funds futures priced in a high probability of a December rate cut, with probabilities rising above the 80s percentage range. That expectation helped lower-term yields and supported certain cyclical sectors that stand to benefit from easier financial conditions.

Why this matters for stocks

Short-term rate-cut expectations can boost equities by reducing discount rates used to value future earnings and by supporting consumer confidence. For retail and cyclical companies, lower rates often encourage spending and refinancing activity—effects that can amplify the impact of already-strong holiday sales.

Notable Index and Constituents Updates

A few corporate- and index-specific events added texture to the action: a memory/storage firm’s inclusion in the S&P 500 created buying interest in its shares, while heavyweight names such as Oracle and Palantir saw notable monthly declines—illustrating uneven sector rotation. These rebalancing moves and name-specific headlines can magnify short-term index swings even when the broader economic backdrop is supportive.

How investors can interpret the signals

Strong retail spending through Black Friday is a clear positive for the consumer-exposed portion of the S&P 500 and the Dow. However, the divergence inside technology—where some legacy chipmakers and retail tech beneficiaries outperform while AI leaders cool—suggests that breadth matters: broad index gains can mask concentrated leadership. Investors should watch incoming holiday sales data (Cyber Monday figures and December weekly reads) and Fed communications closely to assess whether the rally has staying power.

Conclusion

The latest trading reflects a market balancing concrete retail strength against sector rotation and evolving policy expectations. Robust online Black Friday sales have given retail stocks and index performance a lift, while company-specific developments—like Intel’s uptick and Nvidia’s pullback—underscore active reallocation within technology. With elevated odds of a near-term rate cut baked into futures, investors are positioning around the twin stories of consumer resilience and changing leadership among big-cap names, setting the stage for an active finish to the quarter.