Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to modestly lower opening on Friday ahead of key U.S. monthly non-farm payrolls and unemployment data from the government.
Market is widely prepared for better readigs for both the EU indicators due Friday, and as of now, 1.3283 works out to be the nearest target upside on the 4-hour chart.
Stocks rallied for a second straight session as traders sentiment was buoyed by some strong November chain-store retail sales figures and by the European Central Bank (ECB) to maintain liquidity safety measures for troubled banks.
Hyundai Motor America on Wednesday reported that its US auto sales soared 45 percent, led by strong gains from its Sonata, Tucson and Genesis models.
Spot Gold touched a near 3-week high for Dollar investors above $1396 per ounce in London trade on Wednesday, but slipped back from new record highs in Euros and Sterling as the US currency dipped on the forex market.
Consumers spent $1.028-billion online during Cyber Monday, up 16 percent from a year ago, and first time such spending surpassed the billion-dollar level. It was also the busiest online shopping day ever.
Online retail sales soared 19.4 percent through the afternoon of Cyber Monday from the prior year, according to data from Coremetrics, a division of IBM (NYSE: IBM).
The National Retail Federation (NRF) said that 212 million U.S. shoppers visited stores and websites over the Black Friday weekend, up from 195 million last year. Moreover, the average shopper spent $365.34 this weekend, up from last year’s $343.31 figure.
Stocks fell, but finished significantly above intra-day lows, as the market recovered somewhat from early losses triggered by renewed fears that the euro zone debt crisis could spread beyond Ireland to Portugal and Spain.
Surging demand from China, the world's second-largest gold buyer, is changing seasonal patterns in Gold Price trends for investors everywhere. At this current pace, private Chinese demand may overtake India's by 2014 (if not sooner).
The eurozone’s economic sentiment rose to three-year high in November, despite concerns over the sovereign debt crisis in some countries in the region.
Despite the big build-up, retail sales on Black Friday were rather tepid. According to data from ShopperTrak, sales edged up a mere 0.3 percent from the same day last year.
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said on Monday expanding the asset purchase fund could be an option if the economy worsens beyond the central bank's expectations, even as government data showed retails sales in October fell unexpectedly.
The U.S. online retail sector delivered double digit growth on Black Friday 2010 compared with the year-ago levels, according to a report from IBM. The findings showed that online sales rose 15.9 percent, with consumers pushing the average order value up 12.1 percent to $190.80.
As the stock market focuses its gaze upon the holiday shopping season, two of the most prominent companies in the retail sector that may attract much attention are Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT).
Beginning well before midnight on Thursday, in malls throughout the nation, the lifeblood of the American economy – the consumers – will start queuing up outside the locked entrances of various retail stores, forming longer and longer lines, clutching ads and lists and coupons, sipping coffee and hot chocolate, rubbing their hands and stomping their feet for warmth, exciting each other with anticipatory chatter, and waiting, waiting for the clock to strike the appointed hour, the clerk to open ...
comScore (NASDAQ: SCOR), an internet marketing research company, said it expects online shopping to increase by 11 percent this holiday season.
UK economy grew in the third quarter, boosted mainly by a strong increase in exports of goods and services.
Growth of the U.S economy is expected to remain sluggish next year as the nation suffers from high employment, high public debt, and rising commodity prices, says a report.
Retail sales in October picked up pace, and brightened the outlook for year-end shopping as purchases rose 1.2%, the highest in the last seven months.
As “Black Friday” approaches next week, U. S. retailers are expecting a strong holiday season – at least, compared to the dismal performance of the past two years.
Staples Inc., the world's largest office products company, reported 7 percent rise in quarterly profit, which also came in above market estimates, as it managed to keep a lid on its costs.
