Forecasters expect US consumers to spend about four percent more this year compared with the 2016 holiday shopping season, with solid employment levels and lofty stock equity-market valuations expected to boost overall spending.
Some early data has already suggested an uptick in online sales compared with the year-ago period, but "the question is -- and will remain throughout the holiday selling season -- how much of the online sales strength will come at the expense of in-store sales?" said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 23,558.83, up 0.1 percent.
The broad-based S&P 500 added 0.2 percent at 2,601.67, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.2 percent to 6,878.07.
The leading indices remain at or near all-time records following a run on mostly good corporate earnings and in anticipation that lawmakers in Congress will approve President Donald Trump's tax cut.
Among retailers, Amazon rose 1.0 percent, Wal-Mart Stores 0.8 percent, Gap 1.4 percent, Best Buy 0.6 percent and Macy's 2.4 percent. Target fell 0.4 percent and Williams-Sonoma dropped 0.5 percent.