Record highs for Dow and Nasdaq Wall Street following post-election Black Friday spending boom 

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Wall Street's three main indexes hit record highs today following post-election Black Friday spending boom.

Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all closed at record highs on Friday, helped by gains in consumer staples and technology stocks as investors hunted for bargains. 

The three indexes have soared in the past three weeks since the election. The S&P 500 marked its seventh record close since November 8.

Today, the consumer staples sector gave the S&P 500 the biggest boost closing up 0.79 percent, led by gains in Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 68.96 points, or 0.36 percent, to 19,152.14

The Nasdaq Composite added 18.24 points, or 0.34 percent, to 5,398.92

Today, the consumer staples sector gave the S&P 500 the biggest boost closing up 0.79 percent, led by gains in Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 68.96 points, or 0.36 percent, to 19,152.14 and the Nasdaq Composite added 18.24 points, or 0.34 percent, to 5,398.92. 

While the three main indexes have hit all-time highs since Trump's surprise win, the defensive consumer staples and utilities sectors have been the worst performers in that period.

'People are looking for value in the market. While many stocks have risen quite briskly, investors are looking for some forgotten names in the rally,' said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

'These orphaned stocks are being hunted today.' 

Ten of the 11 major S&P sectors were trading higher, led by a 1.23 percent rise in utilities.

The technology sector was up 0.26 percent, led by Cisco and Apple.

The energy sector, fell 0.6 percent, pulled down by a 2.7 percent drop in oil prices amid uncertainty that the OPEC would arrive at a decision to cut production during a meeting next week.

Let the games begin: People line up at the entrance of Macy's in New York ahead of the early opening for Black Friday sales in Manhattan

As Black Friday madness kicked off, shoppers fought over towels that were on sale for $1.60 during the early rush on Thursday

Johnson & Johnson inched up 0.8 percent rise after the company confirmed media reports that it was in talks to acquire Swiss biotechnology company Actelion.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,725 to 1,101. On the Nasdaq, 1,573 issues rose and 1,082 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 44 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 240 new highs and 11 new lows.

 Retailers had been braced for a big holiday rush this year as consumer confidence soared following Trump's election win.

Consumer confidence rose by 8.4 points from October to 85.2 in November - the biggest gain within a month since December 2011, according to the University of Michigan's final reading of consumer sentiment for November.

The consumer expectations index of the survey rose by 8.4 points from October to 85.2 - the biggest gain within a month since December 2011, according to he University of Michigan's final reading of consumer sentiment for November 

'The upsurge in favorable economic prospects is not surprising given Trump's populist policy views, and it was perhaps exaggerated by what most considered a surprising victory as well as by a widespread sense of relief that the election had finally ended,' Richard Curtin, University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers chief economist told Bloomberg.

With increased confidence in job security, wage growth and soaring markets, shoppers were planning to spend, spend, spend over the holidays. 

The predictions were in line with results of a recent survey by ForeSee that revealed most Americans are planning to spend the same or more during the holiday season than in the run up to the election. 

 

While it could be expected that Trump supporters would be driving the spending frenzy on a wave of optimism after their candidate won, the survey reveals that 20 per cent of Democrats plan to spend more in the coming weeks - perhaps trying to shop away their misery after Hillary Clinton lost to Trump.

That is double the percentage of Republicans, ten per cent, who plan to up their spending.

Cohen added: 'Half the country is going to be happy, so they are going to go out and spend, and half is going to be very distraught and disturbed - and one way to get out of that slump is to distract themselves by going to stores.' 

Big department stores, such as Macy's and Khol's are expecting a strong holiday spending period. 

'Things that are distracting like the election, once there's an outcome, certainty is a good thing,' Kohl CEO, Kevin Mansell said. 'So from a positive perspective, having certainty on that is probably a good thing looking into the holiday.'

Marvin Ellison, J.C. Penney Co. Chief Executive Officer said in an interview this month: 'We've had some, we believe, pent up demand - just based on the economics of our consumer. 

'With the holiday season upon us, retailers are glad that this unprecedented election is over, along with the divisive rhetoric and the impact it had on consumers concerned about their future,' NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said.

'The next few months will offer many opportunities for us to educate lawmakers on our priorities,' Shay said, citing tax reform and infrastructure improvement and pro-growth policies that create jobs and reward investment. 'If this election taught us anything, it is the importance of focusing on policies and programs that not only benefit today's economy but the economy of the future.'

Trump has pledged to make it easier for big businesses and retailers to stay in the United States such as offering lower tax rates for companies.

His pledges have convicted almost half of respondents that the U.S. will have 'continuous good times' over the next year - up 11 percent from October during the final leg of the election race.

Those who expected 'bad times' fell by 7 percentage points to 37 percent.