NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Stocks posted modest gains Friday in a shortened, post-holiday session dominated by news about retailers and lingering concerns over the discovery of mad cow disease in Washington state.
The Dow Jones Industrial average (up 19.48 to 10324.67, Charts), the Standard & Poor's 500 (up 1.85 to 1095.89, Charts) and the Nasdaq composite (up 3.91 to 1973.14, Charts) each rose about 0.2 percent. The stock market closed at 1 p.m. ET following the Christmas holiday.
Treasury bond prices rose while cattle futures tumbled.
Investors focused on retail stocks after Wal-Mart (WMT: Research, Estimates) said its December same-store sales will come in at the low-end of estimates. Wal-Mart's stock barely moved.
But retailers which did not report soft sales were generously rewarded by investors.
Sharper Image (SHRP: Research, Estimates) and Chico's FAS (CHS: Research, Estimates) said sales during the holiday shopping period jumped from a year earlier. Their stocks jumped 8.1 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.
Online retailer Amazon.com (AMZN: Research, Estimates) also delivered strong holiday sales results and said it set a single-day record with more than 2.1 million units ordered worldwide, although an Amazon spokesman refused to specify which day set the sales record. Amazon.com shares edged higher but closed well off their best levels of the day.
"As we start the new year, we could see tech get a slight boost, but then I think investors will turn to consumer stocks as the economy continues to recover," Ned Riley, chief strategist with State Street Advisors, told CNNfn.
After being battered earlier in the week after a single case of mad cow disease was found in Washington state, restaurant stocks rebounded modestly Friday.
Shares of McDonald's (MCD: Research, Estimates), the world's largest hamburger chain, and Wendy's International (WEN: Research, Estimates), the No. 3 burger chain, rose about 0.5 percent apiece.
Rare Hospitality (RARE: Research, Estimates), owner of the Longhorn Steakhouse chain, rose 1.3 percent.
For the week, the Dow posted a gain of 0.4 percent, the S&P 500 added 0.6 percent and the Nasdaq rose 1.1 percent. So far this year, the Dow is up 24 percent, the S&P 500 is up 25 percent and the Nasdaq has jumped 48 percent.
Volume was low with about 367 million shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange and about 525 million shares on the Nasdaq. Market breadth was positive. Both on the NYSE and on the Nasdaq winners outnumbered losers by three to two.
Treasury bond prices gained. The benchmark 10-year note added 9/32 to yield 4.15 percent. The dollar fell slightly against the yen and was little changed against the euro.
In Chicago, cattle futures fell the maximum daily trading limit, which was expanded to 3.0 cents a pound after Wednesday's 1.5-cent tumble -- bringing the market to a complete halt in a repeat of Wednesday's action.
Most markets in Europe remained closed for the holiday, but stocks in Asia managed gains overnight.
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