Better than expected retail sales in US

U.S. retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent in December. The increase in sales was the highest since September. Excluding autos, retail sales rose 0.3 percent, according to Commerce Department data released Tuesday. Economists surveyed

by MarketWatch expected retail sales to increase by 0.2 percent overall and by 0.2 percent minus autos. Sales were also revised slightly higher for November and October. In the last month of 2012, auto sales led the way with a 1.6 percent increase, having retailers´sales up by 1 percent.

Stocks edged higher on Wall Street after a rally in retail stocks offset concerns about flaring tensions in Washington over increasing the country's borrowing limit. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the day up 27.57 points at 13,534.89, while the broader S&P 500 rose 1.66 points to 1,472.34, a five-year high. The Nasdaq composite index, dragged down by a fall in Apple, fell 6.72 points to 3,110.78.

Retail stocks moved higher throughout the day, boosted by a report that showed retail sales increased in December, helping the major indexes reverse early losses. J.C. Penney rose 62 cents, or 3.4 percent, to 18.71 dollars.

Analysts at Trefis commented on Nike´s outlook for the coming months: “We currently forecast roughly 5.5% share for Nike branded apparel in the global sports apparel market for 2013. In a scenario where this figure rises to 6% instead, there could be ~5% upside to our price estimate for Nike.”

Meanwhile, their peers at Zacks Equity Research commented on Lululemon Athletica, which updated its fourth-quarter fiscal 2012 guidance on Monday. The company anticipates its revenue for the fourth quarter to be at the higher-end of previously guided range of 475–480 million dollars. Lululemon has also raised its earnings guidance to 74 cents per share, up from its earlier guidance range of 71–73 cents per share, reminded Zacks. In the same vein, the company revealed that gross margin is expected ahead of the forecast.