The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 426.16 points, or 0.97%, to finish the session at 44,296.51, while the S&P 500 gained 0.35% to close at 5,969.34, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up 0.16% to end the day at 19,003.65.

"There were some warning signs from Target, but if you look at personal income and retail sales, they have been strong all year," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities, in an interview. "That suggests the consumer has buying power."

Stocks closed higher on Wall Street, giving the market its fifth gain in a row and notching another record high for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The S&P 500 ( ^GSPC) advanced 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI) gained 300 points or 0.8%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ( ^IXIC) flipped between positive an negative territory, after the major gauges closed Thursday in the green.

The Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF was rising 0.6% on Friday morning at $266.77, putting the fund on pace to potentially book its first record close since November 2021, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

At the other end of the Dow was Nvidia , which fell 3.2%, shedding $116 billion in market value along the way. The artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaker reported solid earnings e