Dow continues upward tilt

THE Dow Jones industrial average headed toward its eighth straight weekly win amid lacklustre trading yesterday, while other US indices also looked set to record second consecutive monthly gains.

Around 11.30 am ET, the Dow Jones industrial average, down 3.98 to 8927.70, and the Nasdaq composite, down 0.73 to 1487.21, floated around break-even, with the Dow showing the most volatility as shares of component UAL lost nearly 30% of their value.

Another factor in the day's trading was the ‘Black Friday’ distraction. Many

investors are expected to be out shopping on what is typically one of the busiest sales days of the year for retailers. The day after Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season, and many retailers count on sales on this day to seal their profitability for the entire year.

Stocks meandered in a tight range for most of the shortened session on light volume, with the market due to end trading at 1.00pm ET. On the New York Stock Exchange advancers edged decliners 15 to 13 as 310 million shares were traded.