Retail sales report boosts U.S. stock market

NEW YORK - A strong report on retail sales pushed U.S. stocks higher in early trading Thursday, easing investors' jitters over the global economy and another slide in oil prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 198 points, or 1.1 percent, to 17,731 as of 10:26 a.m. ET. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 25 points, or 1.2 percent, to 2,051 and the Nasdaq composite rose 65 points, or 1.4 percent, to 4,749.

U.S. retail sales perked up in November, the start of the holiday shopping season, led by online buying and purchases of autos, clothing and electronics.

Retail sales rose a seasonally-adjusted 0.7 percent last month, the Commerce Department said. The government said falling gasoline prices did cause sales at gas stations to decline 0.8 percent, but that potentially freed up money that could be spent elsewhere. A strong retail sales report could not have come at a more crucial time for retailers, since holiday sales often mean the difference between a company earning a profit or a loss in the year.

Consumer discretionary stocks were among the biggest gainers in the market. The S&P 500's consumer discretionary sector was up 1.1 percent, led by Ross Stores, CarMax, GameStop and Tiffany.

Investors continue to watch the price of crude oil, which was hit hard Wednesday following a report that U.S. stockpiles hit a multi-year high. Oil edged down 25 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $60.68 a barrel after plunging $2.88 a barrel on Wednesday. It also fell $2.79 a barrel on Monday. The price of oil is the lowest it's been in five years.

While lower oil prices are good for consumers, many energy companies rely on high oil prices to justify drilling in remote parts of the globe for hard-to-reach reserves of crude. Energy companies also make up a large segment of the U.S. stock market.

Despite a relative dearth of scheduled economic news this week, stock markets have struggled on a combination of factors, including worries over higher U.S. interest rates, renewed concerns over Greece's economy and a sell-off in Chinese stocks. The continuing slide in oil prices has also added an element of uncertainty even though they could, if sustained, give the global economy a fairly sizeable lift next year.

Germany's DAX was up 0.6 percent, France's CAC-40 was flat and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 slipped 0.4 percent.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei fell 0.9 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.9 percent and South Korea's Kospi slipped 1.5 percent. Shares were also lower in Taiwan, Singapore and Australia. China's Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.5 percent.

U.S. government bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.19 percent. The dollar rose 1.4 percent against the yen to 119.24 yen. The euro meanwhile fell 0.4 percent to $1.239.