WALL STREET ENDS LOWER AMID CYBER MONDAY – Online shopping deals expected to entice shoppers to spend a record $12 billion
U.S. stocks edged lower with investors taking a post-Thanksgiving pause as the holiday shopping season kicked in to high gear and retailers lured bargain hunters with Cyber Monday deals. All three major U.S. stock indexes ended the session modestly lower.
Online shopping deals as part of Cyber Monday are expected to entice shoppers to spend a record $12 billion, according to Adobe Analytics, in the latest upbeat sign regarding the health of the American consumer, whose spending is responsible for about 70% of the U.S. GDP.
The resilience of the consumer and the tightness of the labour market amid signs of a dampening economy have many market-observers digesting the possibility that while the Federal Reserve has reached the end of its tightening cycle, it might keep restrictive policy rates in place for longer than expected.
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 56.75 points, or 0.16%, to 35,333.4, the S&P 500 lost 8.92 points, or 0.20%, to 4,550.42 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 9.83 points, or 0.07%, to 14,241.02.