| Mastercard’s SpendingPulse report on national retail sales, across all payment types, said retail sales during the holiday season increased 4.9% from a year ago, the fastest pace of growth since 2011. Dollars spent this season set a record, helped by an 18.1% jump in online shopping and heavy early-season promotions. It also helped that shoppers kept spending late into the season, with Dec. 23 just behind Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in single-day spending.The SPDR S&P Retail exchange-traded fund XRT, surged 1.1%, with 64 of the 88 stock components trading higher. |
