Data point to firm seasonal sales growth
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Record purchases of gift tokens and online presents drove up preliminary consumer spending estimates in the US on Monday but clouded attempts to predict retail store sales.
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With less than two weeks until Christmas, consumers don&#39;t seem to be in a big rush to finish their holiday shopping, evidence from two groups that track sales confirmed on Tuesday.
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Makes solid gains in 'seasonally weaker quarter'
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U.S. specialty apparel retailers have  experienced slow sales growth over the first 20 days of the  holiday shopping season, according to data released on Sunday  by SpendingPulse.
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In the latest snapshot of the holiday shopping season, the government reported today that retail sales increased 0.1 percent in November, a better performance than Wall Street had been expecting.
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Holiday sales are expected to rise,   though at a slower rate than last year as consumers fret about   the declining housing market, according to a National Retail   Federation economic forecast on Tuesday.
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Tesco says business is "looking good" for the crucial Christmas trading period, and reports continuing sales growth.
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Jewelers like Tiffany & Co , Zale Corp  and Finlay Enterprises  are set to release holiday sales data later this week -- and analysts are expecting less-than-sparkling results.
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Supermarket group reports better sales figures than expected but warns of tough year ahead
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The retailer reports another quarter of double-digit sales growth.
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NEW YORK - The holiday selling season got off to a strong start this weekend, which means...actually, it may not mean anything at all.
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The service sector of the U.S. economy saw activity grow in December, amid continued advances for employment and increasing prices, a report from a private research group said Wednesday.
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Holiday sales data and a jobs report  this week will provide the first glimpse of the economy's  health going into 2005, and could give another boost to the  end-of-year stock rally, analysts said.
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While they're still a sliver of overall U.S. retail sales, retail online sales continued to rise in the second quarter of the year to $15.7 billion, according to figures released today by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
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U.S. chain store sales rose in the  second week of October compared with last year, as seasonal  shopping drove sales during the second week of the month, a  report said on Tuesday.
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Retail sales have risen sharply in the run-up to the key Christmas season, adding to data which suggests the economy is gathering pace and interest rates may rise next year.
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Cool autumn weather and apparent pent-up demand for clothing drove strong sales in October at Gap, Neiman Marcus and other national retailers, according to company reports issued Thursday.