Last-minute purchases over the pre-Christmas weekend failed to salvage what may be the slowest- growing US festive spending season in five years.
Sales at stores open more than 12 months rose 2.8 per cent last week, the International Council of Shopping Centres and UBS Securities LLC said in a joint statement yesterday.
The results prompted the group to lower its forecast for November and December sales growth to "a tad below" the 2.5 per cent it was predicting.
"Given the slow performance at the beginning of the month, it appears that the industry is on track for a sales gain that is slightly under our original expectation," Michael Niemira, the council's chief economist, said in the statement.
Target, the second-biggest US discounter, said on Christmas Eve that sales at stores open more than a year may decline in December after customer visits slowed in the weeks after Thanksgiving at the end of November.
Sales in November and December this year may rise 4 per cent, the slowest growth since 2002, according to the National Retail Federation.
Shares in Target, based in Minneapolis, declined in New York yesterday, leading down the market as a whole, albeit in light trade.
The dollar was also under pressure, falling the most in more than three weeks against the euro on concern that US retail sales may suffer as the housing market declines.
Home prices in 20 US metropolitan areas fell in October by the most in at least six years, a private survey showed yesterday. Property values fell 6.1 per cent from October 2006, more than forecast, after dropping 4.9 per cent in September,according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index.
The decrease was the biggest since the group started keeping year-over-year records in 2001. The index has fallen every month this year.
"The outlook for US growth remains weak, which puts pressure on the dollar," said Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at the Bank of New York Mellon in New York. "The dollar is losing ground."
The dollar fell to $1.4489 per euro in early New York trade, having declined from $1.4402 in the previous session. It was the biggest decline since December 4th.
US retailers began cutting prices yesterday to clear out merchandise left over from the weekend spending surge.
Sales also began in Britain yesterday, although most retailers in the Republic waited until today to begin discounting.
There were signals yesterday that pre-Christmas business for Britain's retailers was positive, with John Lewis, Britain's largest department store chain, saying weekly sales rose to a record as it cut prices to lure last-minute Christmas shoppers.
Sales climbed 6.1 per cent in the last full week before Christmas from the same period last year, the London-based group said in a statement yesterday.
Revenue surpassed £100 million (for the second week in a row.
"This has been our best Christmas ever," managing director Andy Street said. Sales were driven by "iPods, eframes, beauty, lingerie, cashmere and decorations," the company said. - (Bloomberg)
