By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- U.S. retail sales posted their biggest decline in 11 months in November, in a sign that high prices, depleted savings and a weakening economic outlook have caught up with the American consumer.
Retail sales fell 0.6% from October, largely reversing a surprisingly strong 1.3% increase in October. The decline was much sharper than the 0.1% forecast ahead of time by economists.
At the same time, two closely-watched regional business surveys both pointed to weakness at the manufacturing sector, with both the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing index and the New York Empire state manufacturing index coming out below forecasts.
The news was taken badly by U.S. financial markets: S&P 500 futures extended their declines in the overnight session to trade down 1.4% by 08:40 ET (13:40 GMT), while Nasdaq 100 futures were down 1.6% and Dow futures down 1.1%.