Stocks Dip as Thanksgiving Weekend Sales Lag

Stocks slip as Thanksgiving weekend sales lag (AP)

Shoppers spent less than a year ago during the Thanksgiving weekend and that slippage weighed stocks down on Monday. Even though shoppers turned out in record numbers in the four days ended Sunday, they exhibited restraint and caused the first decline in Thanksgiving weekend spending since a retail trade group began tracking it in 2006. Investors reacted by selling retailer stocks, ranging from department stores to specialty chains. J.C. Penney, Target and Coach fell more than 1 percent each, while Urban Outfitters dropped 3.5 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 77.64 points, or 0.48 percent, to 16,008.77 at the close of trading today. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index dipped slightly to 1,800.90, down 4.91 points, or .27%, while the Nasdaq composite fell 14.63 points, or 0.36 percent, to 4,045.26. Investors sold stocks at the start of trading but share prices inched back after the government reported that developers boosted construction spending in October at the fastest pace in more than four years. A separate survey showed that manufacturing activity rose at its fastest pace in 2 ½ years. “This holiday season is not going to be a gangbuster,” said Lindsey Piegza, chief economist of Sterne Agee. “Retailers are bracing for declining activity from now to the beginning of the year.”