Retail Sales in December Disappoint; November Reading Revised Higher
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The retail industry took a big blow to end 2011. After seeing sales increase only 0.4 percent in November (up from an initial gain of 0.2 percent), data from the Commerce Department Thursday showed a modest 0.1 percent gain during December. Economists were forecasting a 0.3 percent increase in sales for the month.
Excluding auto sales, retail purchases fell 0.2 percent over the month of December, marking the first decline in this metric since May of 2010. Taking out both auto and gas sales, retail sales were flat compared to a 0.2 percent rise in November. Economists were expecting a 0.3 percent gain when excluding gas.
Car and light truck sales are reported to have risen by 13.5 million vehicles in December. Offsetting strong auto sales over the holiday season were electronic and appliance sales which fell by 3.9 percent. The decline in these durable orders marked the largest decline since March of 2009.
Retailers adopted the Sam Walton method this holiday season: selling more products at lower margins. With sales not reaching expectations, this method may end up backfiring for some retailers.
Stocks were trading notably higher early in the pre-market hours Friday following encouraging European bond sales. Upon release of retail sales and initial jobless claims data at 8:30am ET however, equities began paring gains. The Dow Jones is down nearly 45 points at last check; the Nasdaq and S&P 50 are down 8 points and 4 points, respectively. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (NYSE: XRT) is trading down nearly 1 percent for the session.
While bulls have been winning so far in 2012, both bulls and bears can certainly agree its good to see the market finally trading more on domestic news...
Excluding auto sales, retail purchases fell 0.2 percent over the month of December, marking the first decline in this metric since May of 2010. Taking out both auto and gas sales, retail sales were flat compared to a 0.2 percent rise in November. Economists were expecting a 0.3 percent gain when excluding gas.
Car and light truck sales are reported to have risen by 13.5 million vehicles in December. Offsetting strong auto sales over the holiday season were electronic and appliance sales which fell by 3.9 percent. The decline in these durable orders marked the largest decline since March of 2009.
Retailers adopted the Sam Walton method this holiday season: selling more products at lower margins. With sales not reaching expectations, this method may end up backfiring for some retailers.
Stocks were trading notably higher early in the pre-market hours Friday following encouraging European bond sales. Upon release of retail sales and initial jobless claims data at 8:30am ET however, equities began paring gains. The Dow Jones is down nearly 45 points at last check; the Nasdaq and S&P 50 are down 8 points and 4 points, respectively. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (NYSE: XRT) is trading down nearly 1 percent for the session.
While bulls have been winning so far in 2012, both bulls and bears can certainly agree its good to see the market finally trading more on domestic news...
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