wall street - the rally continues

U.S. Stocks Climb for 7th Day on Holiday Sales; Best Buy Gains

Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks rose for the seventh consecutive day as speculation that holiday sales will exceed earlier estimates boosted shares of retailers, including Best Buy Co., the largest consumer-electronics chain.

The market's rally has now completed its fifth straight weekly advance, spurred by signs that the Federal Reserve may stop raising interest rates, improving consumer sentiment and oil prices under $60 a barrel.

``As far as holiday sales are concerned, we're well primed for some outperformance,'' said Brian Slater, who helps oversee $500 million at Condor Capital Management in Martinsville, New Jersey. ``Energy costs have pretty much come down, and that's relieved investors. And now it looks like we have a little more clarity as to when the Fed may actually be done hiking rates.''

The Standard and Poor's 500 Index rose 2.64, or 0.2 percent, to 1268.25. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 3.03, or 0.1 percent, to 2263.01. Both indexes are at more than four-year highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 15.53, or 0.1 percent, to 10,931.62.

The S&P 500 and the Dow average were up 1.6 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively, between Nov. 18 and today. They notched their fifth consecutive weekly gain, for the best streak since July for the S&P 500 and September 2004 for the Dow average. The Nasdaq is also up 1.6 percent, its sixth weekly advance and the longest streak since January 2004.

Trading

Markets were closed yesterday for the Thanksgiving Day holiday and trading ended at 1 p.m. New York time today. Some 542 million shares changed hands on the Big Board, two-thirds less than the three-month daily average. Trading volume has been 62 percent lower on the day after Thanksgiving the last five years compared with the annual daily average. Five stocks rose for every four that fell on the NYSE.

Best Buy, the largest U.S. electronics retailer, increased $1.63 to $50.63. The company may benefit from higher consumer spending on electronics during the Christmas holiday season, CNBC host Jim Cramer said on his ``Mad Money'' show.

Apple Computer Inc., maker of the iPod music player, jumped $2.23 to $69.34 on expectations of strong holiday buying of the gadgets. Apple is cutting prices on products including its new iMac G5 personal computer and iPod speakers to lure customers. The lower prices are available today only in Apple's retail and online stores.

`Healthy December'

``The consumer will continue to spend this holiday season,'' said Lawrence Creatura, who helps manage $2.6 billion at Clover Capital Management in Rochester, New York. ``Gasoline prices at the margin are down, consumer sentiment is up, and so I think that we're shaping up to have a very healthy December.''

Crude oil prices have dropped 17 percent since touching a record $70.85 a barrel in New York on Aug. 30. U.S. trading was shut yesterday and today for the holiday. The University of Michigan's measure of consumer sentiment rose this month by more than economists expected, a Nov. 23 report showed.

Minutes from Fed's latest meeting showed that some policy makers were concerned about increasing rates too far and discussed the need to ``before long'' change their outlook for the benchmark U.S. interest rate. The Fed voted on Nov. 1 to raise its target rate by a quarter percentage point to 4 percent, its 12th straight increase.

Black Friday

Today marks the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, a period that accounts for almost a quarter of U.S. retailers' annual sales. Black Friday, as it is known, was the biggest sales day in 2003 and the second-biggest last year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Shoppers may be spending more this post-holiday weekend than last year, the Washington-based National Retail Federation said in a statement today. The weekend is ``the most promotional in history'' and consumers are buying electronics such as flat- panel televisions, housewares and toys today, the group said.

On Nov. 22, the group raised its sales forecast to 6 percent from an estimate of 5 percent two months ago, citing strong October gains and a decline in gasoline prices. Retail sales for November and December will total $439.5 billion, the group said.

An S&P 500 retail group has climbed 6.4 percent this month, outpacing the 5.1 percent gain by the broader measure.

Chipmakers Advance

A measure of chipmakers jumped 0.8 percent for the best performance among two dozen industry groups in the S&P 500. Global semiconductor companies raised their factory use to a one-year high in the quarter ended Sept. 30, industry figures from Semiconductor International Capacity Statistics showed.

The industry group's latest report follows research by other trade groups that points to growth in chip sales, driven by demand for portable music players, mobile handsets and other electronic gadgets.

Intel Corp., the world's biggest computer-chip maker, gained 17 cents to $26.81. Applied Materials Inc., the No. 1 maker of semiconductor-manufacturing equipment, added 35 cents to $18.30.

``Products like the iPod and other portable devices, cell phones, continue to grow in demand,'' said Condor Capital's Slater. Such devices ``are priming the chip companies for a good year next year.''

Archipelago Holdings Inc. rallied $2.60 to $61.10. A Citigroup Inc. evaluation found the New York Stock Exchange's proposed acquisition of the electronic market is ``fair'' to exchange members. The evaluation was commissioned to settle a lawsuit brought to block the transaction.

Taser Falls

Taser International Inc., the world's largest maker of stun guns, lost 90 cents to $6.50. The Nasdaq Stock Market may stop trading its shares because Taser has failed to file a quarterly report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Taser plans to request a hearing to appeal the decision, which would stop the delisting process until a ruling is made.

XL Capital Ltd. slumped $6.32, or 8.6 percent, to $67.42 for the worst performance in the S&P 500 today. The property and casualty insurer expects a reduction in fourth-quarter earnings of $830 million because of a ruling on its purchase of Winterthur units. XL may get $575 million from Winterthur, based on a draft ruling from an independent actuary. XL was seeking $1.45 billion, the company said in March regulatory filing.

Spiders, QQQQs

S&P 500 shares, called Spiders, advanced 10 cents to $127.13. Nasdaq-100 tracking shares, known by their QQQQ symbol, added 9 cents to $41.89.

S&P 500 futures expiring in December climbed 1.50 to 1270.10 on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Nasdaq-100 Index futures were up 4 at 1704.50.

The Russell 2000 Index, a benchmark for companies with a median market value of $563 million, rose 0.1 percent to 683.58. The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index, the broadest measure of U.S. shares, gained 24.57, or 0.2 percent, to 12,675.34. Based on the changes in the Wilshire, the value of stocks increased by $30.7 billion.