By William Spain
Retail stocks inched higher early Thursday, with the sector's
main indicator gaining about 1% in the face of mixed November sales
numbers.
The S&P Retail Index (RLX) was up 3 points at 412.41.
One winner: Limited Brands (LTD), which rose 2% to $18.11. The
parent of Victoria's Secret reported that same-store sales--those
at outlets open at least a year--rose 3% last month, a surprise
considering that the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson
Reuters had been for a decline of 2.5%. Total sales were up to
$781.1 million from $755.6 million.
Also trending positive was Kohl's (KSS), which gained about 3%
to $55.17. The company posted a same-store sales rose of 3.3%.
Analysts, on average, had expected same-store sales to rise 1%.
Total sales for the period rose 7.1%
On the downside was TJX Companies (TJX), which slipped about 4%
to $36.88. The company reported that November same-store sales were
up 8%, behind the Wall Street view of a 9% rise. Total sales for
the 4 weeks ended Nov. 28, 2009, rose 15% to $1.8 billion.
Most numbers so far have coincided with initial holiday results
suggesting that although some shoppers were lured in by early
promotions and showed up at stores or online, higher traffic didn't
generally translate to higher spending. But December could see a
pop: Consumers reported an average 42.2% of their shopping
completed through the end of November, compared with 48.3% last
year, according to an International Council of Shopping Centers and
Goldman Sachs survey.
-By William Spain, 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com