Investing.com - As investors continue to worry about the effect of the global economic downturn on corporate earnings, Black Friday is becoming a gauge of household confidence in the economy.
Indeed, many businesses depend on the strong sales generated by these sales periods. This becomes even more crucial in a period of uncertainty due to the threat of inflation, aggressive monetary policies and the effects of the war in Ukraine.
The event did not disappoint, however, with online sales estimated at more than $9 billion in the U.S., an increase of 2.3% over last year.
These numbers give hope to stores and businesses with the holidays approaching and possibly new waves of sales, and contrast with forecasts that were somewhat gloomy.
Views now turn to Cyber Monday results that could confirm this trend and provide relief to the markets. Analysts are expecting more than $11B in sales, up 5.1% from the previous year's figures.
On the stock market side, S&P 500 remains under pressure as futures are showing a pre-opening decline. However, sectors that benefit from Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales could see gains.
Indeed, companies like Home Depot (NYSE:HD) and Walmart (NYSE:WMT) closed last week on the upside and could maintain their uptrend thanks to these positive figures.
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