Markets Plunge in US Retail Sales
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 19:37
The tightening credit conditions and rising unemployment contributed to a stunning slowdown in consumers.
Almost all large retailers have trimmed their full-year forecasts after a dire festive sales period despite record-breaking discounting. Eleven of the 13 major product categories monitored by the Government fell with most down by at least 1% last month. Only retailers of health and beauty products as well as the miscellaneous category reported a slight rise in sales in December. In total, the US retail sales fell by 2.7%, which is twice as much in December as forecast and became the worst fall since records began in 1992.
As a result, the markets in London and New York plunged today. The FTSE 100 index of leading UK companies fell 256.93 points to 4,142.22 in London, while the Dow Jones industrial average fell 263.87 points to 8,184.69 in New York.
Related posts:
- Retail Sales Fall ‘Worse than Feared’
In January, driven by cut-price clearance activity, the retail sales... - Retail Sales Surge Surprises City
Tow of the UK’s biggest retailers have surprised the City... - Retail Sales Rise Defires Gloomy Forecast
According to two measures published, it is indicated that the... - Markets Volatile on Fears Eurozone Due to Debt Crisis
European shares are traded on fears that the debt crisis... - Mortgages Approvals Plunge
The interest rate for savings fell to 1.1%, which is...
