By Jessica Wohl

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. retailers largely saw a strong finish to the 2009 holiday season even though sales fell at apparel chains and department stores in December, according to MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse.

Photo : Frédérick Florin/AFP

Online retailers, jewelers and consumer electronics retailers all saw sales gains last month, SpendingPulse said on Wednesday 6 January.

The findings back up Wall Street's view that retailers were able to sell more merchandise without resorting to drastic discounts as many had to in late 2008 during the global financial crisis.

A strong rebound in U.S. consumer demand is vital for a sustained global economic recovery.

"In general what we had was a pretty decent holiday season, I think you saw sort of a cautious return to spending. It wasn't an amazing holiday season," said Kamalesh Rao, director of economic research at SpendingPulse.

The weakness in 2008, when holiday season sales fell for the first time on record, made year-over-year comparisons look better.

Compared with December 2007, sales in December 2009 in most sectors SpendingPulse tracks likely fell about 2 percent to 3 percent, with online showing the only rise, Rao said.

SpendingPulse findings reflect activity the group tracks in the MasterCard payments networks as well as estimates for other payment forms such as cash and checks.

Investors will get a closer look at spending on Thursday 7 January when many top retailers report their December sales at stores open at least a year.

Analysts expect a 2 percent increase in December same-store sales at 30 retailers tracked by Thomson Reuters Data.

The International Council of Shopping Centers said on Tuesday 5 January it expects December same-store sales to rise about 2.5 percent, up from its earlier forecast for a 2 percent rise.

ONLINE SHINES

SpendingPulse previously said retail sales rose 3.6 percent from November 1 through December 24.

While Rao did not update that figure to include the final days of December, he suggested that early signs of a recovery in the retail sector emerged in late 2009.

"We entered into either a period of sort of modest or moderate growth, maybe a tentative recovery," Rao said.

Online sales rose 17.7 percent in December and were likely aided by bad weather in the week before Christmas, which led some shoppers to buy from home, SpendingPulse said.

Electronics sales rose 7.3 percent and were up for the fourth consecutive month, but were down about 4 percent from December 2007.

Rao said electronics were "surprisingly strong," which may say "something about the appetite for discretionary spending."

Jewelry sales rose 6.9 percent, and were also up for the fourth month in a row. Within jewelry, mid-tier mall-based chains suffered, while lower and higher-end retailers remained strong, according to SpendingPulse. Excluding jewelry, luxury sales rose 5.5 percent.

Sales at specialty apparel retailers fell 1.8 percent, after dropping 5.7 percent in November, and 8.9 percent in December 2008. Specialty apparel sales were down almost 11 percent from December 2007, Rao said.

Sales at department stores fell 2.3 percent from a year earlier.

Macy's Inc said on Tuesday 5 January it was closing five of its namesake department stores as it pares underperforming locations. (Editing by Steve Orlofsky)