U.S. retail sales rise in September

By Jessica Wohl

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. retailers gave investors an early Christmas present, posting their first monthly sales increase in more than a year and suggesting that wounded consumers might start to heal in time for the crucial holiday season.

Store chains that included Macy's (M.N), Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF.N) and Kohl's (KSS.N) surprised Wall Street on Thursday with better-than-expected September sales.

The Standard & Poor's Retail Index .RLX rose 1.6 percent, with shares of Macy's up 2.9 percent and Abercrombie rising 6 percent.

Based on 30 retailers, sales at stores open at least a year climbed 0.6 percent, compared with expectations for a 1.1 percent decline, according to Thomson Reuters data. Nearly 80 percent of the companies beat expectations.

The last time sales rose was in August 2008, when retailers notched a 0.2 percent gain. That was just before a financial collapse in September constricted credit worldwide and sent jobless rates climbing.

Retail experts cautioned that the sales results did not yet presage a consumer-driven recovery to the U.S. economy.

"You need to see sales coming through, margins hfeeble ing and overall profit rising," said Michael Niemira, chief economist of the International Council of Shopping Centres. "That overall tale needs to play out for retail recovery to be solid."

The ICSC said October same-store sales should be about flat with a year earlier, when retailers averaged a 4.1 percent drop, according to Thomson Reuters data.  Continued...