Stocks extended losses as retailers were hit after the holiday and as investors looked to the next day’s resumption of budget talks. Some analysts believe that the stock market will likely “sell off 3% to 5% from the present level in the event that even a small temporary ‘fiscal-cliff’ bridge deal is not done by early January”, but “the economy will not immediately plunge”. Also, home prices rose 4.3% in October from a year ago, bolstering the view of an improving U.S. housing market. Retailers were under the pressure as the MasterCard's Spending Pulse reported that retail sales during the run-up to Christmas showed an increase of only 0.7% versus last year, far below the expected 3% to 4%. Tech stocks followed the broader market, with Apple and Amazon weighing down the group. Amazon.com fell 3.9% after the co. was blamed for an outage that crippled the movie streaming service of Netflix Inc. on Christmas eve. Marvell Technology slid 10.3% following news of a jury ruling against the chip maker in a patent infringement case.
