CHICAGO (AFX) -- The retail sector's key measure shook off earlier pressure from consumer electronics retailers and hung onto the broader market's coattails to end the session on the upside.
The S&P Retail Index finished at 479.34, its first closing this week in positive territory.
Electronics-heavy retailers didn't fare as well, staying lower on news that Microsoft Corp. will delay the release of the next take on its Windows operating system until January -- missing the critical holiday-shopping period.
That put pressure on shares of major retailers that sell personal computers though the broader market rally softened the blow. Shares of Best Buy fell 33 cents to $55.17, while Circuit City were off 7 cents at $24.64.
Shares of Wal-Mart , a Dow industrials component, fell a penny to $48.10. In Plano, Tex., Wal-Mart opened its first upscale version of its warehouse-style store, only this one is selling $400 bottles of wine, sushi, high-priced shoes and home accessories -- all aimed at the well-heeled.
Why Plano? Because that's where the money is, Eduardo Castro-Wright, chief executive of Wal-Mart's U.S. division said at a Merrill Lynche conference in New York. The average income there is $145,000 a year -- three times that of New York's customers.
'Please don't think that this is the direction that we're taking,' he told investors and analysts. 'This is one of the many tests that we're running to understand how to deliver better value to customers.'
Shares of Gap Inc. moved ahead 1.5%, or 27 cents, to $18.26. The San Francisco-based retailer said it will open its fledgling Forth & Towne stores in five new markets this year. This story was supplied by MarketWatch. For further information see www.marketwatch.com.