Cyber Monday: US retail stocks higher on busiest day for internet shopping

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, which would make it the largest US online shopping day in history. The research firm had previously reported Cyber Monday sales of $3.45 billion last year but restated that figure to $5.6 billion following a change in its methodology of calculating sales.

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 per cent 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.