"Some of it is due to hurricane taking away some discretionary sales"
- Jonathan Basile, director of U.S. economics at Credit Suisse
Americans cut their spending at retail businesses in October, as automobile purchases were slammed by the super storm Sandy. The Commerce Department said that sales dropped 0.3% last month, after a 1.3% increase in September, posting a first loss after a three-month shopping spree. At the same time, wholesale prices lost 0.2% last month, after rising 1.1% in September, while stockpiles added 0.7% in September, up from a 0.6% gain in the prior month.
"Some of it is due to hurricane taking away some discretionary sales," said Jonathan Basile, director of U.S. economics at Credit Suisse in New York. "Spending still seems subpar, and consumers are facing headwinds on their paychecks and incomes. They're also faced with uncertainties about taxes going into year-end."
"Looking past (Sandy's) impact, U.S. consumers appeared to dial it back a notch," said Robert Kavcic, an economist at BMO Capital Markets. "There was relatively broad-based weakness in this report."
Standard & Poor's dived 1.39 per cent to 1,355.49. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 185.23 points to 12,570.95. The Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 2,846.81.
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