NEW YORK, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street struggled to settle in positive territory Monday as improved retail sales in holiday season helped offset weakness in airline stocks. All three indexes reached a new 2009 closing high.
Major averages opened higher as data from MasterCard Advisors\' Spending Pulse showed U.S. retail sales rose 3.6 percent from Nov. 1 through Dec. 24, compared with a 2.3 percent drop in the year-ago period. Adjusting for an extra shopping day between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the number was closer to a 1 per cent gain.
The slight increase in holiday sales, helped by online shopping and purchases of electronics, showed a positive sign that consumers were willing to spend more and feeling more confident in the economy, which is vital to a sustained recovery.
Airline stocks were under pressure Monday after a failed attack on a Northwest flight on Christmas Day and another incident on the same flight Sunday raised alarm on airline security.
The NYSE Arca Airline Index shed almost 2 percent to end at 33.97 points, with 11 of its 13 components failing to gain ground.
On the flip side, shares of airport security companies rose as the Transportation Security Administration said on Sunday that it had stepped up pre-flight screening in the U.S. and Europe.
Many investors worried that renewed terror concerns and potentially tighter airport security measures could dampen business travel demand just as it recovers. However, some analysts said these events tend not to impact stock in the longer term as traders were expected to pay more attention to the big picture of airlines\' improving demand and prices.
Trading volume has been extremely light in recent session due to the holidays while analysts say the market is likely to drift higher during the final days of 2009 in the absence of any bad news.
The Dow Jones rose 26.98, or 0.26 percent, to 10,547.08. Broader indexes also traded higher. The Standard & Poor\'s 500 index added 1.30 ,or 0.12 percent, to 1,127.78 and the Nasdaq gained 5.39,or 0.24 percent, to 2,291.08.
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