Cyber Monday sales affecting Amazon, eBay stocks

Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Cyber Monday sales have been expected to surge with more than 131 million people in the U.S. shopping for holiday deals. And as online retail giants went after the consumer rush -- investors eyed their stocks.

Amazon wavered throughout the day, falling 0.3 percent at the day's end. But eBay lit the way, rising almost 2 percent, after rising more then 3 percent at market open after analyst upgrades of the stock.

Part of eBay's appeal was the ability to distribute scarce items, like the new Sony and Microsoft gaming consoles that have been selling out most other places.

EBay's sales rose to a record on Black Friday, rising 35 percent from the year prior. Amazon sales rose 25 percent, but was still visited more than eBay.

Amazon inched upward Monday morning after the announcement that Amazon drones that would be used in the future to deliver to Amazon Prime members within 30-minutes from ordering. News spread through the day that the service is still in research and development, but it pointed to investors that Amazon would stop at nothing to innovate.

The company has been striving for faster delivery efforts, keeping up with online competitors and brick and mortar stores enhancing their online presence. This holiday season, Amazon is partnering with the United States Postal Service to deliver on Sundays. Goldman Sachs raised its outlook on Amazon's share price.

Amazon also slashed prices of its Kindle Fire for Cyber Monday, with the release of Apple's popular iPad Air. Apple's share price slipped 0.9 percent.

Google slipped close to 0.5 percent and Groupon slid more than 3 percent after a Goldman Sachs analyst cut the Groupon's rating. The tech-heavy Nasdaq remained relatively stable with all eyes on e-commerce.

[USA Today] [The Street]