UPI NewsTrack Business

Last-minute shoppers get last-minute deals

DALLAS, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Holiday shopping procrastinators trekked to malls and downtown shopping areas across the United States, ho-ho-hoping for last-minute, perfect gifts.

Retailers were upbeat that the final holiday shopping weekend would yield sales meeting modest growth expectations, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Despite heavy mall traffic nationwide during the weekend, consumers still waited till the last minute for their shopping, contributing to some pessimism about how retailers would fare this season.

Last-minute deals were plentiful for the last-minute shopper.

At Dallas' NorthPark Center, Deborah and Michael Fields of Dallas said they saved hundreds of dollars by waiting to shop.

"The sales really are better at the end. I bought my mother a coat at Macy's and saved $150," Deborah Fields told the Journal. "We bought our daughter ... a Michael Kors handbag at Nordstrom and saved $700."

Retail activity watchers predicted an increase of 3.6 percent to 4 percent for the 2007 holiday season.

Four energy commodities end session down

NEW YORK, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Crude oil dropped 16 cents in an abbreviated trading session Monday, closing at $93.15 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Heating oil, gasoline and natural gas also closed down.

Heating oil lost 3 cents and finished at $2.571 per barrel. Gasoline dipped a penny and finished the trading session at $2.3645 a gallon. Natural gas fell 14 cents and closed at $7.05 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline was $2.974 Monday, down from $2.98 per gallon Friday, the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report said.

Aussies spend big on Xmas shopping

SYDNEY, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Christmas shoppers in Australia spent more than $30 billion buying presents before retail stores closed their doors Monday.

Some stores stayed open a full 24 hours to prevent chaos at the checkout counters in the frenzy of last-minute buying.

The Executive Director of the Australian Retailers Association, Richard Evans, said domestic appliances like MP3 and DVD players as well as plasma screen televisions were among the most popular Christmas gifts.

Evans told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. people should be careful not to extend themselves too far on credit.

"While retailers love cash registers ringing long and loud, we are also cautious and want sustainability, " he said. "If people overspend and fund on their credit cards, that will impact on retailing -- the barometer of the economy -- around February, March and April next year."

U.S. stocks open up on short trading day

NEW YORK, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes showed upward movement Monday in a shortened Christmas Eve trading session.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 98.68 or 0.73 percent to 13,549.33 in late trading. The Standard & Poor's rose 11.99 or 0.81 percent and the Nasdaq rose 21.51 or 0.8 percent to 2,713.50.

Exchanges were scheduled to closed early Monday for the Christmas holiday.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,369 stocks advanced and 828 declined.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note yielded 4.21 percent at midmorning Monday.

The dollar was mixed overseas. The euro traded at $1.4404 from $1.4358 late Friday. Against the yen, the dollar changed hands at 114.44 yen from 114.2 yen.

The Japanese markets were closed Monday for a holiday.