Wall Street enters the holiday shopping season next week with great hope as concerns over Europe's sovereign debt and China's roaring inflation continue to weigh on stocks.
Trading was expected to slow down ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and on Black Friday, traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year.
Markets are closed on Thursday and have an abbreviated session on Friday.
Dubbed Black Friday because of its power to put retailers' accounts into the black, the day after Thanksgiving kicks off the crucial year-end holiday shopping season.
Hopes are high that Black Friday, when shops slash prices to lure buyers, will herald the start of a joyful shopping season for retailers after data and earnings reports in recent weeks pointed to a rise in consumer spending.
"Next week all eyes will be on the consumer again, talking about Black Friday and the holiday shopping season. You'll be turning your attention from the international spotlight to the US consumer and holiday sales, and how it bodes for the retailers," said Jefferies analyst Art Hogan.
"Thanksgiving weekend is the most important indicator for the holiday season," he said.
Next week's holiday-shortened calendar will be packed with a slew of economic indicators, including the second estimate on third-quarter gross domestic product growth, existing-home sales and the minutes from the central bank's last meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, which decided to renew massive asset purchases in a bid to boost the economy.
This week saw trade seesawing, boosted by encouraging US retail sales figures and General Motors's landmark return to the stock market on Thursday, but pulled down by global economic woes.
In the week to Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose a mere 0.1 percent to 11,203.55.
The broader S&P 500 index added 0.04 percent to 1,199.73 points, while the technology-rich Nasdaq composite index declined 0.1 percent to 2,518.12 points.
Thursday saw one of the strongest rallies in recent weeks after GM's successful initial public offering (IPO) and news that Ireland was nearing a deal with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to resolve its massive debt problems.
"Clearly, the successful GM IPO is very positive for industrial confidence," said Michael James of Wedbush Morgan Securities.
The Detroit, Michigan-based automaker was set to garner at least 23.1 billion dollars in what would be the biggest IPO in US history.
But concerns over high sovereign debt in the eurozone continued to simmer as Ireland -- and other smaller European economies -- still remain extremely vulnerable.
The mood was further dampened after China's latest move on Friday to tackle soaring inflation and housing costs, by raising reserve limits on lenders, sparked fears it could lead to a slowdown in global trade.