Wall St Week Ahead Black Friday puts consumer spending in market's glare with stocks near records

NEW YORK, Nov 22 (Reuters) - The health of the U.S. consumer and the retail sector will be in focus in the coming week, as Black Friday kicks off a holiday shopping season that could shed light on how buyers are grappling with higher prices.

The benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab rose 1.7% in the past week and approached all-time highs as investors digested the end of a solid third-quarter corporate reporting season. Earnings are on pace to have climbed about 9% from a year earlier.

But recent earnings from two high-profile retailers yielded sharply different prospects: Walmart (WMT.N), opens new tab on Tuesday raised its annual sales and profit forecast for the third consecutive time, while Target (TGT.N), opens new tab shares tumbled after it forecast holiday-quarter comparable sales and profit below estimates on Wednesday.

The holiday shopping season could give further insight on consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. Even though inflation rates have moderated from 40-year peaks hit two years ago, higher prices are still challenging consumers, said Abby Roach, portfolio analyst at Allspring Global Investments.

"It's easy to be excited about inflation c...
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