Shares of retailers and other consumer companies rose slightly as strong economic data offset a weak report from Gap.
Household spending rose 1.3% in October from a month earlier, while personal income increased 0.5% last month, according to the Commerce Department.
The report foreshadowed increased expenditure in the 2021 holiday season, economists said, an impression backed up by credit-card data from national lenders Bank of America and JPMorgan.
New home sales rose 0.4% to a six-month high in October, meanwhile.
In a sign that expenditure and home sales could continue to outweigh inflation pressures, the number of new weekly jobless applications fell sharply to 199,000 in the latest week, below the average level in 2019 before the onset of the pandemic.
Shares of Gap plunged after the clothier cut its growth projection for the year, citing inventory shortfalls caused by supply-chain issues.
Consumer sentiment data was mixed, showing an improvement in mood since earlier this month, but The final reading of the University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment came in at 67.4 in November, up from the preliminary estimate of 66.8, but down from the 71.7 reading registered in October.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-24-21 1718ET
