The stock market mostly slipped on Monday, pulling back from last week’s gains in Thanksgiving-shortened trading, as retailers fell on concerns about heavy discounts at the start of the holiday shopping season and the overhang of federal budget negotiations kept investors wary of making big bets.
The Nasdaq composite index closed higher, led by gains in eBay and Apple. The Standard Poor’s 500-stock index cut most of its losses during Monday’s trading session and remained above its 200-day moving average, maintaining its long-term upward trend.
The S. P. 500 consumer discretionary index fell 0.5 percent after the start of the holiday shopping season over the four-day Thanksgiving weekend. Target, one of the largest retailers by market value, fell $1.71, or 2.6 percent, to $62.78.
“The concern is big retailers are discounting so much, sales look better, but at what cost?” said Angel Mata, managing director of listed equity trading at Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets.
Bucking the retail trend, shares of eBay closed at their highest in almost eight years, rising $2.39, or 4.9 percent, to $51.40, as the online marketplace posted strong sales on Cyber Monday. Amazon gained $3.74, or 1.6 percent, to $243.62.
The White House showed little enthusiasm on Monday for a proposal to avoid the fiscal shock of tax increases and spending cuts to take effect at the first of the year by limiting tax deductions and loopholes, instead of allowing tax rates to rise for the richest Americans.
Investors are hoping for advances in Congressional talks over the more than $600 billion in spending cuts and tax increases that threaten to drag the American economy back into recession.
Indications of progress in talks, or just a political willingness to negotiate, contributed to the market’s recent rally. Major indexes last week gained 3 to 4 percent; the Dow Jones industrial average moved above 13,000 and the S.P. 500 above 1,400 for the first time since Nov. 6.
On Monday, the Dow industrials fell 42.31 points, or 0.33 percent, to 12,967.37. The S. P. 500 dropped 2.86 points, or 0.20 percent, to 1,406.29. The Nasdaq gained 9.93 points, or 0.33 percent, to 2,976.78.
Apple, a big mover in the Nasdaq, jumped $18.03, or 3.2 percent, to $589.53. The company said on Friday that it had asked a federal court to add six more products to its patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung Electronics, including the Samsung Galaxy Note II, the latest move in the continuing legal war between the two companies.
In the bond market, interest rates slipped. The price of the Treasury’s 10-year note rose 8/32, to 99 20/32, while its yield fell to 1.67 percent, from 1.69 percent on Friday.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/27/business/daily-stock-market-activity.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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