Retail Sales, Holiday Shopping Season | featured news

Stocks are closing lower after a weak holiday shopping report sent shares of major retailers lower. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 24 points to close at 13,114 Wednesday. It was the third straight loss for the Dow.

U.S. holiday retail sales this year are the weakest since 2008, after a shopping season disrupted by storms and rising uncertainty among consumers.

Americans spent more online in November to start the holiday season and began to replace cars and rebuild in the Northeast after Superstorm Sandy.

Retail sales barely rose in December, but the gain was enough to lift sales to a record level for 2011. It marked the largest annual increase in more than a decade. Sales inched up 0.1 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted $400.6 billion, The Commerce Department said Thursday. It was the second straight month that sales have topped $400 billion. Never before had monthly sales reached that level.

When top retailers post their December sales this week, Wall Street analysts are expecting them to report a healthy end to the holiday season, helped by discounts, improved consumer sentiment and tactics like extended hours and layaways.

The sales jump occurred in a crucial month for the industry, as gift buying surges in the weeks leading up to the holidays. Video game software sales rebounded in November, a crucial month for the industry as gift buying takes off in the weeks leading up to the holidays.

Big chains report an 8.9% increase from a year earlier, led by discounters and apparel stores. A later Easter is considered only partly responsible for the big jump.

Though December was weaker than expected, the overall holiday season was still relatively strong, analysts said.

Retail sales were solidly higher in November, the government reported Tuesday, fueled in part by deep discounting on holiday merchandise.

U.S. retailers performed better during the key holiday shopping season this year after a historically dismal 2008, performing in line with dampened expectations, according to data released on Monday.