U.S. equities opened higher on Friday as investors placed bets on a strong holiday shopping season.
The Nasdaq composite reached an all-time intraday high, rising 0.1 percent as shares of Amazon climbed 0.7 percent.
The S&P 500 also hit an intraday record high at the open, with energy as the best-performing sector. Energy stocks were boosted by a rise in crude prices. Macy's was the best-performing stock in the index.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 33 points, with Wal-Mart leading advancers on the 30-stock index.
Long lines of people began forming by Thursday afternoon outside of retailers like Best Buy and Target, among others, as shoppers got ready for Black Friday. Digital sales were also robust, according to Adobe Analytics. The company said U.S. consumers had already spent more than $1.52 billion online by 5 p.m. ET on Thanksgiving evening.
"It's all about the shopping numbers," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial. He said they will likely translate into strong consumer spending numbers. "That's good for the economy."
Shares of Macy's, Nordstrom and Kohl's rose more than 1 percent in early trade. Overall, traditional retail stocks have taken a hit this year as more people shift to online shopping outlets, helping Amazon increase its market share.
The SPDR S&P Retail exchange-traded fund (XRT) was down 5.4 percent for 2017 as of Wednesday's close. U.S. markets were closed on Thursday due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Equities were set to finish the shortened trading week with modest gains. The S&P 500 and Dow were on track to rise 0.7 percent entering Friday's shortened session, while the Nasdaq was on track to post a 1.1 percent weekly gain.
Stocks have gotten a boost from rising tech stocks this week. Some investors also placed bets that corporate tax cuts would keep the current economic expansion going, but skepticism remains as to whether the GOP-led Congress will be able to pass a bill before year-end.
"The proposed fiscal stimulus faces another hurdle next week when the Senate takes up its own version of the legislation," said Jeremy Klein, chief market strategist at FBN Securities.
"I maintain that the implementation of something meaningful is an intractable problem given the concerns surrounding the Federal deficit, the [state and local tax] deduction, and the Affordable Care Act," Klein said.
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