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US Black Friday sales disappoint
American retail stocks fell yesterday on the back of weak high street figures for the long-anticipated Black?Friday weekend. Although shopper numbers increased 13 per cent year-on-year to 195m, the average spend declined 7.9 per cent to $343.31 (209), according to the National?Retail Federation. The S&P Retail?Index fell 0.4 per cent to 402.6. “We believe Black?Friday and post-Thanksgiving weekend sales for mall-based retailers were ho-ho-hum, and disappointing,” said Lazard Capital markets analyst Todd Slater.