Retail stocks keep rising after strong start to holiday sales

Shares of retailers such as Macy’s Inc and Wal-Mart were up on Monday following a promising start to the holiday season and ahead of what is expected to be the largest U.S. online shopping day in history.

Adobe Analytics said Cyber Monday is expected to drive $6.6 billion in internet sales, nearly double last year’s figure of $3.45 billion, which would make it the largest U.S. online shopping day in history.

Data for Cyber Monday sales are expected at around noon eastern time.

Record online sales were seen on Black Friday and Thanksgiving, when shoppers bagged deep discounts and bought more on their mobile devices, brightening the overall outlook for those traditional retailers that have expanded beyond brick-and-mortar outlets.

Macy’s shares were up as much as 2 percent in premarket trading on Monday, while Wal-Mart rose 0.6 percent. J.C. Penney’s shares were the highest gainers, rising 2.7 percent. Target, Kohl’s, Amazon and Urban Outfitters’ stocks were also slightly higher.