Retail sales report boosts US stock market
Source: AP-Excite
By KEN SWEET
NEW YORK (AP) — A strong report on retail sales pushed U.S. stocks higher in early trading Thursday, easing investors' jitters over the global economy and another slide in oil prices.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 173 points, or 1 percent, to 17,706 as of 10:03 a.m. Eastern. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 21 points, or 1 percent, to 2,047 and the Nasdaq composite rose 53 points, or 1.1 percent, to 4,736.
LET'S GO TO THE MALL, TODAY: U.S. retail sales perked up in November, the start of the holiday shopping season, led by online buying and purchases of autos, clothing and electronics.
Retail sales rose a seasonally-adjusted 0.7 percent last month, the Commerce Department said. The government said falling gasoline prices did cause sales at gas stations to decline 0.8 percent, but that potentially freed up money that could be spent elsewhere. A strong retail sales report could not have come at a more crucial time for retailers, since holiday sales often mean the difference between a company earning a profit or a loss in the year.
FULL story at link.
A Wall Street sign adjacent to the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2014. European stock markets opened with slight gains Thursday Dec. 11, 2014 after a nosedive in Asia as falling oil prices reinforced jitters about a sluggish global economy. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20141211/financial_markets-1c43f5d719.html
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Amazing how the "CONSUMER" keeps this country going, while at the same time we have banks, trying to get legislation passed in this present Congress to raid the FDIC funds and gut the Dodd-Frank, with there derivatives if and when they fail in the open market.
Please sign Elizabeth's Warren petition on her site
