S&P 500 hits all-time high on retail sales cheer; travel stocks slide
U.S. stock index futures inched higher on Monday, boosted by megacap companies, while hundreds of Omicron-driven flight cancellations kept investors on edge at the start of this year’s final trading week.
Retail sales in the country rose 8.5% during this year’s holiday shopping season from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24, powered by an ecommerce boom, a report by Mastercard Inc showed. The S&P 500 retailing index firmed 0.5%.
The S&P 1500 airlines index shed 1.6%. Cruise operators Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Royal Caribbean and Carnival Corp fell 2.2%-3%, leading declines on the benchmark S&P 500.
Main stock indexes in the United States are eyeing a third straight yearly gain, with the benchmark S&P 500 on track to close out the year 26.4% higher. The Dow is set to rise 17.8%, while the Nasdaq is looking at a 22.1% climb.
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