PREVIEW - U.S. Nov sales to shed light on holiday season start

By Nicole Maestri

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - When U.S retail chains report November sales this week, investors will learn whether they have gone far enough to protect profits against a weak start to the holiday shopping season.

Early data on weekend shopping from U.S. Thanksgiving Day on Thursday through Sunday showed a slight increase in retail sales, pressuring shares from Wal-Mart Stores Inc to J.C. Penney and Saks Inc.

To get a clearer picture of how holiday sales are faring, analysts said they are waiting for retailers to release their own sales figures on Wednesday and Thursday.

"This November, (same-store) sales are going to be incredibly important to gauge the state of consumer spending, and thus fourth-quarter earnings and stock trajectory, and it's also an important statement about the economic recovery," said Deutsche Bank analyst Bill Dreher.

Last November, same-stores sales fell 7.8 percent, the worst decline since Thomson Reuters began tracking such figures in 2000. Shoppers, panicked by a financial crisis that wiped out retirement accounts and credit limits, slammed shut their wallets. Retailers were forced to slash prices, undermining profits in the year-end fourth quarter.

This year, analysts got more bullish on prospects for November as customer traffic picked up closer to Thanksgiving Day on Nov. 26, according to Jharonne Martis, director of consumer research for Thomson Reuters.

Ahead of Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when retailers offer eye-popping deals, November same-store sales were expected to rise 1.8 percent. They are now expected to notch a 2.4 percent gain.

While many large retailers including Costco Wholesale Corp, Target Corp and Kohl's Corp will release sales figures on Thursday, the data will lack results from key holiday retailers -- including Wal-Mart, Best Buy Co Inc and Amazon.com.