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US futures fall on new warnings about fiscal cliff

Published: November 26, 2012 Comment on this article

NEW YORK (AP) — Stock futures are heading lower after a warning from White House economists dampened what had been a huge weekend for retailers.

photo - FILE - In this Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012, file photo, shoppers wait on a check-out line in the Times Square Toys-R-Us store after doors were opened to the public at 8 p.m., in New York. U.S. shoppers hit stores and websites at record numbers over the four-day Thanksgiving weekend, according to a survey released by the National Retail Federation on Sunday. They were attracted by retailers' efforts to make shopping easier, including opening stores on Thanksgiving evening, updating mobile shopping applications for smartphones and tablets, and expanding shipping and layaway options. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

FILE - In this Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012, file photo, shoppers wait on a check-out line in the Times Square Toys-R-Us store after doors were opened to the public at 8 p.m., in New York. U.S. shoppers hit stores and websites at record numbers over the four-day Thanksgiving weekend, according to a survey released by the National Retail Federation on Sunday. They were attracted by retailers' efforts to make shopping easier, including opening stores on Thanksgiving evening, updating mobile shopping applications for smartphones and tablets, and expanding shipping and layaway options. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

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Dow Jones industrial futures fell 48 points to 12,913. The broader S&P futures have given up 5.8 points to 1,399.50. Nasdaq futures are down 6.25 points to 2,628.

Shoppers flooded stores in record numbers over the weekend, according to the National Retail Federation. The organization says a whopping 247 million shoppers visited stores and websites during the Thanksgiving holiday, up 9.2 percent from last year.

On Monday, however, a new report from the National Economic Council and the Council of Economic Advisers said that a sudden increase in taxes for middle-income taxpayers, if the current fiscal impasse is not remedied, could reduce consumer spending next year by nearly $200 billion.