US shoppers send equities higher.

28th November 2011

Ian Copelin, Investment Director comments “The FTSE-100 today rose for a second day, after Thanksgiving retail sales climbed to a record coupled with speculation that European leaders will boost efforts to end the debt crisis.

The FTSE-100 soared 148.11 points or 2.87%, while in the US the S&P 500 jumped 33.88 points or 2.92%.

According to early estimates by The National Retail Federation, a record 226 million shoppers visited stores and websites during the four-day holiday weekend starting on Thanksgiving Day (up from 212 million last year).

The average shopper spent $398.62 over the weekend, up from $365.34 last year – a very encouraging sign for consumer spending and taken with other recent economic data and indicators, it suggests, in stark contrast to the gloom and doom that had been expected by the markets, that the US economy is continuing to grow.

In Europe, reports suggest that the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are discussing a fast-track stability agreement.  Under the deal, member states will commit to greater fiscal discipline without waiting to change European Union treaties.  If correct, this is very positive as it and shows that a sense of urgency is finally starting to develop among European leaders.”