Nordstrom's stock surge fuels rally in department store shares

Shares of department store chains got a nice bump in morning trade Thursday, as Nordstrom Inc.'s plan to explore a going private transaction helped fuel investor attention. Nordstrom's stock soared 12.6%, and was by far the biggest percentage gainer in the S&P 500 , after the high-end department store chain said members of the Nordstrom family had formed a group to consider taking the company private. Meanwhile, shares of Macy's Inc. shot up 2.9%, to place it fourth on the S&P 500's gainers list. Elsewhere, shares of Dillard's Inc. rallied 4.2%, Kohl's Corp. climbed 0.7% , J.C. Penney Co. Inc. rose 0.7%, while Sears Holdings Corp. lost 0.7%. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF tacked on 0.3%.

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