Monday saw the Dow Jones (DJI) close at 11,201.97 or 9.39 points higher due to a bigger than expected increase in October retail sales.
The announcement by the Department of Commerce Monday showed October retail sales increase by 1.2 percent, the biggest in six months. It may have contributed to the increase in the Dow Jones (DJI). Experts projected an increase of 0.7 percent for the month.
Leading the increase was vehicle sales which went up by 5 percent for October. The positive announcement brought the Dow Jones (DJI) back up from its decline in the previous week.
Retailers also enjoyed increases propping up the Dow Jones (DJI). These include Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL), Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) and Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX).
Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) also announced the purchase of Bucyrus International at $92 per share for a total of $7.6 billion. Bucyrus shares, which is not a part of the Dow Jones, went up to $89.80
While this developed, the Treasurys weakened against emerging-market issues as investors continue to show interest in locally-denominated issues of emerging markets. The two of the biggest banks in Brazil announced that five-real global bonds will be priced early this week.
Other markets being eyed by investors includes Indonesia, whose index went down by 1.12 percent even as the authorities are thinking of enforcing a short-term fund tax to control the influx of short-term capital, which can cause their currency values to rise.
Despite the rise of 0.1 percent at the Dow Jones (DJI), the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) went down to 1,197.75 or 1.46 points while the Nasdag composite index (NASDAQ: IXIC) had a decline of 4.39 points to close at 2,513.82
