Wall Street advanced modestly Monday as a strong start to the holiday shopping season buyoed investor enthusiasm over prospects for the U.S. economy, according to AP. Retail sales on Friday and Saturday combined rose 7.2 percent to $16.4 billion (¤11.05 billion) from the same two-day period a year ago, according to ShopperTrak, which tracks total sales at more than 50,000 U.S. retail outlets. That's helped ease investor concerns about consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of all economic activity. With energy prices at the highest in decades, and economic uncertainty looming over the market, investors have been nervous that consumers could cut back during the holidays. In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 27.72, or 0.21 percent, to 13,008.60. Broader stock indicators rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 0.05, or less than 0.01 percent, to 1,440.75, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 8.45, or 0.33 percent, to 2,605.05. Last week, the Dow lost 1.49 percent, the S&P slid 1.24 percent and the Nasdaq gave up 1.54 percent. Government bond prices showed little change. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, was flat at 4 percent from late Friday. Energy prices fluctuated in early trading. A barrel of light, sweet crude fell 90 cents to $97.28 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after briefly crossing $99 overnight. Gold prices rose, while the dollar fell against other major currencies. Economic news was expected to be light Monday, with traders looking ahead to the readings on consumer confidence, existing home sales and orders for big-ticket goods due later in the week. The New York Federal Reserve said Monday because of «heightened pressures» in money markets for funding through the year-end the bank plans to conduct a series of term repurchase agreements aimed at boosting liquidity in the credit markets. Among retailers, Garmin Ltd. jumped $7.74, or 8.4 percent, to $99.60 after a Deutsche Bank analyst said the company's navigation gadgets were a popular buy in early holiday shopping. Apple Inc. also rose, advancing $4.35, or 2.5 percent, to $175.89. Best Buy Co. rose $1.01, or 2.1 percent, to $49.03. Boeing Co., one of the 30 stocks that comprise the Dow industrials, rose $2.72, or 3 percent, to $92.27 after an analyst upgraded shares of the airplane maker citing long-term gains driven by growth in air travel worldwide. Weighing somewhat on the market's optimism, Citigroup reduced its outlook on several major homebuilders on Monday, saying a glut of inventory and coming resets of subprime mortgages will continue to weigh on the sector at least through the second quarter of 2008. Lennar Corp. fell 26 cents to $15.33, while KB Home fell 69 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $21. In Europe, embattled mortgage lender Northern Rock PLC said Monday it will hold accelerated takeover negotiations with a consortium led by Virgin Group. Northern Rock ran into problems in September when the short-term credit on which it relied dried up as banks became more wary of lending, and the Bank of England stepped in as a lender of last resort. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 211.3 million shares. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 0.56, or 0.07 percent, to 755.59.
