U.S. business : US Stocks Higher On Retail Sales, Consumer Sentiment Data

retail sales

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–U.S. stocks gained and the dollar rallied as a series of reports on the consumer pointed to an improving economy.

Recently, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 42 points, or 0.4%, to 10447. The index was paced higher by Alcoa, United Technologies, Home Depot and McDonald’s, which each rose more than 1%. The Standard & Poor’s 500 increased 3 to 1105, while the Nasdaq Composite tacked on 2 to 2193.

Setting up the sessions gains, the Commerce Department said retail sales rose 1.3% last month, while Wall Street had predicted a 0.7% increase. The better-than-expected results provided evidence that consumers were buying aggressively and supporting the economy in the holiday shopping season.

That evidence was further confirmed when the University of Michigan/Reuters preliminary consumer sentiment index moved to 73.4 from 67.4 in November. The index, which was expected to come in at 68.8, rose to its highest level since September. In addition, U.S. business inventories rose 0.2% in October, to $1.3 trillion, the first increase since August 2008, the Commerce Department said Friday.

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