U.S. Indexes Decline, November Auto Sales Surge

Nichole Harper
03 Dec, 2013
New York City

U.S. market indexes trended lower and investors digested retail and auto sales reports. General Motors sales increased 14%, Ford sales rose 7.2% and Chrysler sales surged 16%. Online sales on Cyber Monday surged but weaker sales at brick-and-mortar stores worried investors.

[R]2:25 PM New York – U.S. market indexes trended lower and investors digested retail and auto sales reports. General Motors sales increased 14%, Ford sales rose 7.2% and Chrysler sales surged 16%. Online sales on Cyber Monday surged but weaker sales at brick-and-mortar stores worried investors.[/R]

Stocks trended lower for the second day in a row after investors digested latest reports on auto sales and retail sales during holiday period.

S&P 500 index declined 11.15 to 1,789.75 and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 20.94 to 4,024.32.

In London trading, FTSE 100 index dropped 0.7% or 49.64 to 6,546 and in Frankfurt the DAX index slumped 1.4% or 134.74 to 9,267.

In Paris, CAC 40 index declined 1.9% or 79.93 to 4,206.

Auto sales in November surged after automakers offered larger discounts during holiday weekend.

General Motors sales in the month increased 14% to 212,060 and Ford Motor sales increased 7.2% to 190,449. Chrysler sales soared 16% in the month, the best November sales since 2007.

U.S. Stocks in Review

Automakers and retailers were in focus.

Ford, GM, and Chrysler declined after investors worried that higher production and rising inventories may force vehicle makers to offer more discounts and cut into margins.

Ford was the first automaker to announce today that it plans to trim 1.8% of its production in the first quarter of next year.

Ford declined 3%, General Motors fell 2.4% and both companies and Chrysler reported sales in November that met or exceeded analysts’ expectations.

Retailers declined for the second day in a row despite record online sale on so called Black Friday. Online sales on so called Cyber Monday increased 21% from a year ago.

Online sales increased 15% to $1.2 billion on Black Friday, said data researcher ComScore Inc.

Amazon declined 2%, J.C. Penney gained 0.3%, Sears declined 6% and Kohl’s and Macy’s added more than 0.3%.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. soared 6% after a minority shareholder Engaged Capital LLC recommended that the company find a buyer and replace the current chief executive officer Michael Jeffries when his contract expires in two months.

Apple Inc rose 2% after the company acquired a trend tracking service Topsy for $200 million according to several media reports.

Yum! Brands Inc declined 3% after company’s fast food locations in China reported a surge same store sales during the first ten days of November when half-off discount lured customers. However, sales declined in the rest of 20 days in the month.