Wall St gains on recovery hopes after Thanksgiving holiday

The price action the previous session suggests some investors may be reverting back to the allocation that powered the stock market from March to October with the S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreating from record closing highs, pulled lower by cyclicals and small caps, and the pandemic-resilient tech and tech-adjacent market leaders helping the NASDAQ remain within striking distance of its all-time high.

Despite signs the economy is losing steam, major indexes have shown double-digit growth so far this month, with the S&P 500 posting a gain of just over 11%. Investors have been encouraged by progress in getting a coronavirus vaccine approved and distributed and hopefully halting the coronavirus pandemic's grip on the global economy. The Nasdaq gained 111, or 0.9%, to 12,205.85.

By 9:40am ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 131.92 points, or 0.44 percent, at 30,004.39, the S&P 500 was up 12.86 points, or 0.35 percent, at 3,642.51, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 79.33 points, or 0.66 percent, at 12,173.74.

US markets closed at 1 p.m. The two companies earlier this month released results showing their COVID-19 vaccine candidates were highly effective in tests.

In the latest development on the road toward developing a vaccine against COVID-19, Britain gave drugmaker AstraZeneca the green light after experts raised questions about the vaccine's trial data.

"There's a reality setting in that while the vaccine will start being distributed fairly quickly, the virus isn't going away quickly and therefore the timeline for economic improvements is getting pushed out", Tim Ghriskey, chief investment strategists at Inverness Counsel in NY said.

In Asia, China's Shanghai Composite Index was up 1.15%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 and Hong Seng Index were up 0.4% and 0.28%, respectively.

The vaccine news has offset concerns about spiking coronavirus cases in the US and other parts of the world.

The disease has killed more than 1.4 million people worldwide and there are 61 million confirmed cases, according to data gathered by Johns Hopkins University.

The pandemic has brought significant changes to the traditional Black Friday shopping holiday. Many retailers are beefing up their safety protocols, moving their doorbuster deals online and curbside pickup options as a last grasp at sales before the year ends.

Black Friday is off to a healthy start, with retail stocks gaining as investors wager for an energetic holiday shopping season. Early indications are that people are staying home and choosing to do any shopping online.

Volume on USA exchanges was 6.82 billion shares, compared with the 11.03 billion average over the last 20 trading days.

Tech shares led the early gainers. Gap gained 0.8%. Shopify advanced 0.7%, and Walmart rose 0.4%.

Prices for the 10-Year Treasury regained lost ground, lowering yields to 0.85% from Wednesday's 0.89%.