U.S. stocks and exchange traded funds (ETFs) are in negative territory this morning as new reports indicate that American consumers are still clinging tightly to their wallets.
Job security, a decline in income and simply an overall attraction to saving cash led to sluggish sales for merchants in July. It appears that mall-based merchant chains were hit the hardest as consumers focused on necessities. The International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs tally fell 5% in July compared with the year-ago period. Despite the news, the SPDR S&P Retail (XRT) was up nearly 1% in morning trading.
The Labor Department said that new jobless claims fell to a seasonally adjusted 550,000 for the week ending Aug. 1, down from the 588,000 in the previous week and lower than the 580,000 expected by analysts.
Black gold has dipped below $71/barrel as traders become worried about demand. Inventories increased by nearly 2 million barrels last week. The news sent the United States Oil Fund (USO) down 1.3% in morning trading.