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Retail sales look poised for a solid finish to the holiday season as consumers hit stores and went online to snap up last-minute gifts, according to data released on Wednesday.

Still, overall sales growth lagged the increase in online spending and some brick-and-mortar retailers struggled. Steep discounts were prevalent throughout the season, tactics that drove sales but could crimp profitability at some chains.

The International Council of Shopping Centers/Goldman Sachs weekly chain store sales index rose 4.5 percent during the week ending December 24, versus a holiday-shortened pre-Christmas Day week in 2010. Redbook Research put the year-over-year gain at 4.3 percent.

Adjusted for the calendar mismatch, the ICSC/Goldman index rose 0.9 percent for the week ending December 24, compared with the prior week.

“The finish is solid and the season itself was good,” said ICSC Chief Economist Michael Niemira. “November was on the soft side but December will be better.”

ICSC is sticking with its holiday sales growth forecast of 3.5 percent, which it issued in September.

“Major players, such as Macy’s (M.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), are fine,” Niemira added. “Specialty stores are likely to be more uneven. Specialty apparel seems to have been hit by abnormally warm weather. Sales were on the slow side and there has been more discounting consequently.”

The biggest shopping malls and regional malls saw the strongest customer traffic since the first week of 2011. Factory outlets remained busy, but less so than the prior week, he said.

Consumers ratcheted down their online spending compared with

earlier in December, but visits to and spending at electronics and department stores increased during the week, Niemira noted.

U.S. consumer confidence rose more than expected in December, hitting an eight-month high, as Americans grew more upbeat about the labor market and their financial situation, the Conference Board said on Tuesday. That followed a report early in December showing U.S. unemployment at the lowest level since March 2009.

However, U.S. house prices are still falling, tempering economic optimism, and some retailers are suffering.

Sears Holdings Corp (SHLD.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Tuesday that it will shut as many as 120 stores after poor sales. Borders Group (BGPIQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Filene’s Basement were among retailers that filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors this year, and shut down, with Filene’s stores set to close shortly.

Part of the problem may be competition with online retailers, who saw faster sales growth this holiday season, suggesting e-commerce took market share from brick-and-mortar stores.

Online spending in the United States reached a record $35.27 billion from November 1 through December 26, up 15 percent versus the corresponding period last year, comScore (SCOR.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported.

For the week ending December 25, consumers spent $2.83 billion online, up 16 percent from the corresponding period in 2010, comScore also said.

“E-commerce is going to be awesome this holiday and retail will be mediocre,” said Michael Rubin, head of Kynetic, which owns online retail businesses Fanatics, Rue La La and ShopRunner.

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World stocks markets fell Wednesday, with trading thinned by year-end holidays and mixed economic news out of the U.S. and Japan.

Benchmark oil hovered above $101 per barrel while the dollar fell against the euro and the yen.

European stocks dropped in early trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.2 percent to 5,501.25. Germany’s DAX was 0.9 percent lower at 5,839.98 and France’s CAC-40 lost 0.4 percent to 3,092.01. Wall Street also appeared headed for a lower opening. Dow Jones industrial futures rose 0.2 percent to 12,199 while S&P 500 futures dipped 0.3 percent to 1,256.60.

Earlier in Asia, trading was subdued, as it typically is between the Christmas holiday and New Year’s.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.2 percent to close at 8,423.62. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.6 percent to 18,518.67, while South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.9 percent to 1,825.12. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 lost 1.3 percent to 4,088.80. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia were also lower.

Japan’s industrial output dropped a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent last month _ the first decline in two months. But the negative news was mitigated by expectations of rebounding manufacturing and production this month and next, which helped to mute stock market losses.

The Shanghai Composite Index reversed course after early losses, rising 0.2 percent to 2,170.01. But the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index sank 0.5 percent at 849.76.

Some investors were “dumping shares” because Beijing has failed to take steps they expected to stimulate slowing economic growth, said Peter Lai, investment manager for DBS Vickers in Hong Kong.

“Some investors believed there would be a reduction in interest rates or the bank reserve ratio. But this hasn’t happened,” Lai said.

Tokyo Electric Power plunged 11.8 percent, a day after Japanese Industry Minister Yukio Edano suggested that the embattled utility be put under temporary state control and warned the company against resorting to electricity bill hikes.

TEPCO operates the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, which was heavily damaged in the March earthquake and tsunami, and owes massive compensation payments to people and companies harmed by a nuclear disaster at the plant faxless pay day loans.

Hong Kong-listed property shares also slumped. China Overseas Land & Investment slid 3 percent. China Resources Land lost 2.7 percent.

China Mengniu Dairy, the country’s biggest dairy company, plummeted 24 percent in Hong Kong after acknowledging that a cancer-causing toxin had been found in milk produced by the company. Mengniu apologized and said no tainted milk had made it to the market. The government blamed the problem on bad feed given to cows.

Retail shares also slid on growing anxiety over the global economy in 2012. Hong Kong-listed jewelry retailer Chow Sang Sang shed 4 percent. Australian department store chain David Jones fell 2.1 percent and Woolworth’s lost 0.9 percent.

On Wall Street on Tuesday, the Dow Jones lost less than 0.1 percent to close at 12,291.35. The S&P 500 was up marginally to 1,265.43. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.3 percent to 2,625.20.

U.S. consumer confidence surged to an eight-month high, but home prices fell in 19 of the 20 cities tracked by the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index. That report dampened investors’ enthusiasm about a jump in consumer confidence to the highest level since April.

Benchmark crude oil rose 2 cents to $101.36 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.66 to finish at $101.34 per barrel on the Nymex on Tuesday.

In currency trading, the euro fell to $1.3075 from $1.3069 late Tuesday in New York. The euro has been weak because of worries about Europe’s government debt crisis. It is still trading just above an 11-month low of $1.2943 reached on Dec. 14.

The dollar fell to 77.73 yen from 77.85 yen.

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We want gift cards and like to give them, but for some reason we don’t always use them and wind up wasting billions of dollars.

A recent poll by Consumer Reports, for instance, found that one-quarter of people who received a card as a holiday gift last year still haven’t used it, and more than half of those had two or more unredeemed cards.

We have lots of excuses. We forgot about the card or lost it. The store didn’t have any merchandise we wanted. Or the retailer isn’t nearby, or we don’t like the store.

This has spawned an online secondary market where gift card exchange sites, such as PlasticJungle.com, Cardpool.com, MonsterGiftCard.com and GiftCardRescue.com, help consumers buy and sell unwanted retail gift cards at a discount. Sellers can get around 70 percent to 90 percent of the value of their cards. The more popular the retailer, the higher the price.

“It at least gives consumers the option to get something for an unused gift card,” said Tod Marks, senior editor at Consumer Reports. “It’s like life support for unwanted gift cards.”

Of course, one way to avoid unwanted or forgotten cards is by giving cash or checks instead. It’s unlikely that someone will fail to spend money that’s in their wallet or deposited in the bank. Another benefit: Shoppers tend to spend more at a store than the amount on the gift card. Not so with cash.

But card experts and consumer advocates cringe at my suggestion of cash, saying bills are “gauche.” At least a gift card to a favorite retailer, they say, makes it seem as if you gave some thought to what the recipient would want.

And besides, some say, people want gift cards. They are the No. 1 requested gift this season and are at the top of most shopping lists, according to the National Retail Federation.

Gift card sales are expected to reach a record $100 billion this year, up nearly 10 percent from the year before, according to TowerGroup, a research and advisory firm. About $2 billion of that, though, will be lost through fees and expired, stolen or misplaced cards.

The losses were much worse before federal protections kicked in last year that, among other things, prevent cards from expiring within the first five years.

Still, $2 billion is a lot of money to leave on the table. And if we don’t use it, somebody else will.

Some retailers recognize unredeemed cards as income after a long period of inactivity. Starbucks Corp., for example, reported $46.9 million in income from unredeemed cards for the year ended in October.

And more than a dozen states now recover funds on unredeemed cards, similar to other unclaimed property, said Brian Riley, senior research director at TowerGroup.

So if you are going to give a gift card, make sure it’s from a retailer that the recipient patronizes. Or if you’re not sure, consider a general-purpose gift card that can be used at any store, although you’ll pay a fee to buy the card. American Express, for instance, offers such cards for a $3.95 fee.

And if you’re stuck after the holidays with cards you don’t want, here’s some advice for getting rid of them:

DON’T SPEND, INVEST • The most innovative use of unwanted gift cards this season goes to GoalMine, which caters to small investors by helping them set goals and begin investing for as little as $25.

Between Dec. 19 and the end of January, GoalMine is accepting unwanted gift cards with values of $25 and up that will be sold at PlasticJungle.com, a card exchange site. Consumers decide whether to deposit the proceeds in an FDIC-insured savings account or in a stock or bond mutual fund.

As a further incentive, GoalMine promises to redeem the first card for 150 percent of its value. The card can’t be worth more than $50.

GoalMine’s general manager, Rimmy Malhorta, said the company figured there were a lot of unredeemed cards that could be put to good use. “Wouldn’t it be great instead of letting Starbucks have that money or iTunes or whoever,” he said, “you could make that money for you and put it toward your kid’s college education, your family home or a rainy day fund?”

GIFT CARD EXCHANGES • These middleman websites for consumers wanting to buy, sell or swap cards have been growing. PlasticJungle, one of the major players, bought and sold cards worth about $18 million last year, three times the amount of the year before, said Chief Executive Bruce Bower. “We are having similar growth right now,” he added.

Sites deal in gift cards from hundreds of national retailers, so you likely won’t be able to sell a gift card from a local shop. Cards usually must have a value of $20 or $25 still on them.

Sellers send their cards to the exchange, which verifies the value. They can get as much as 92 percent of the value of the card, but that’s for the hottest retailers.

Buyers can pick up cards at a discount of up to 35 percent, although the saving is much less on popular cards.

Some sites offer a money-back guarantee if a card’s value turns out to be less than promised. That’s a big advantage over trying to sell a card on your own through Craigslist.

If you’re going to buy or sell on one of the exchange sites, check out more than one. CardHub.com has a gift card exchange feature that aggregates card deals from various sites.

Consumer Reports’ Marks, who researched gift card exchanges earlier this year, says no single site gave the best deal every time.

“The sites often had a different idea of the worth of the same card,” he added. The gap between the best and worst offers for a popular Whole Foods card, Marks said, was 22 percent.

Before buying or selling, read the terms, which also can vary among the sites. And buyers should make sure the site guarantees the cards it sells.

Also, buyers should beware of cards with a value that’s an odd number — say, $63.45 — which could signal that the card was given to a customer as a refund on a purchase, said TowerGroup’s Riley. Refund cards, he said, don’t have the same legal protections as gift cards.

If in doubt, he said, ask the site whether the card is from a refund.

Many of the gift card complaints to Maryland’s attorney general deal with the merchant going out of business. When that happens, card owners generally stand in line with all the other creditors and may get little or nothing. Try to avoid this by buying cards from healthy retailers.

You also can set up an account with ScripSmart.com, which sends out email alerts if a retailer appears headed for bankruptcy. ScripSmart also offers a “nag me” alert to remind you to use your gift card.

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+CNNMoney%27s+Aaron+Smith+contributed+to+this+report.%26nbsp%3B+%3C%2Fp%3E++%3Cp%3E%3Ca+href%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fmoney.cnn.com%2F2011%2F12%2F16%2Fmarkets%2Fmarkets_newyork%2Findex.htm%27+rel%3D%27nofollow%27%3ESource%3C%2Fa%3E%3C%2Fp%3E+

Let’s hear from readers today:

My husband and I have a couple of credit cards we never use. However, we have read that one shouldn’t cancel credit cards because it has a bad effect on credit score. We might refinance our house. Should we cancel these cards?

The Italian government has won a confidence vote over its package of anti-crisis austerity measures in the lower chamber of Parliament.

Premier Mario Monti called the vote, held Friday in the Chamber of Deputies, to speed passage of the measures he says are vital to save Italy from financial disaster. The package was approved by a vote of 495 in favor and 88 against. The Senate is expected to vote on the measures in the next few days.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

ROME (AP) _ The Italian government faces a confidence vote over a package of austerity measures while a transport strike to protest the cuts is causing havoc for commuters across the country.

Premier Mario Monti is putting his package of new and higher taxes and pension reforms to a confidence vote in the lower Chamber of Deputies to speed up its passage cash advance payday loan.

The vote, which is expected by early evening Friday, will likely clear the measures, paving the way for final approval in the Senate within days.

The main political parties have said they would back the package despite disagreeing on some measures.

Monti says austerity is needed to save Italy from financial disaster, but unions are furious. Public transport workers idled buses and subways Friday. State railways were also on strike.

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TORONTO

Jon Corzine is expected Tuesday to once again distance himself from an estimated $1.2 billion in customer money that vanished when MF Global collapsed this fall.

This time, Corzine will have company.

Bradley Abelow, MF Global’s president and chief operating officer, and Henri Steenkamp, the chief financial officer, are also scheduled to testify to the Senate Agriculture Committee.

All three say they don’t know where the money is, according to prepared remarks and Corzine’s previous testimony to a House panel last week. Nor do they take responsibility for authorizing the movement of money out of customer accoun.

Depending on the circumstances, transferring money from customers’ accounts could violate securities laws and, in some cases, could amount to a crime. Federal authorities have begun criminal investigations. And regulators are looking into whether the firm broke securities rules.

MF Global collapsed into the eighth-largest bankruptcy in U.S. history on Oct. 31 after a disastrous bet on European debt. Corzine stepped down as CEO on Nov. 4.

Corzine told the House Agriculture Committee last week that he didn’t know what happened to the money. He said he didn’t become aware of the shortfall until Oct. 30, one day before the firm filed for bankruptcy protection.

In his prepared testimony, Steenkamp says he had no direct involvement in the transfer of funds.

“Direct involvement with operational matters such as bank accounts or fund transfers has never been part of my duties,” Steenkamp says.

Abelow says he cannot explain what happened to the money without having access to MF Global documents, which a trustee now controls.

“At this time … I do not know the answers to those questions,” he says in his prepared testimony.

Anthony Sabino, a law professor at St. John’s University in New York, said Steenkamp and Abelow “are in a riskier position” than Corzine because they were responsible for day-to-day operations of MF Global.

Tuesday’s hearing will include an added element of drama because Corzine, a former Democratic senator from New Jersey, will be pressed by some senators he served with from 2000 through 2005 payday loans.

The Senate panel is one of three congressional committees to have issued subpoenas to compel Corzine’s testimony on the issue. It marked the first time a former senator has been subpoenaed by his former peers in more than 100 years, according to the Senate historian’s office.

Many lawmakers have heard from farmers, ranchers and small business owners in their states who are missing money that was deposited with the firm. Agricultural businesses use brokerage firms like MF Global to help reduce their risks in an industry vulnerable to swings in oil, corn and other commodity prices.

Corzine, who also was New Jersey governor from 2006 until early 2010, told lawmakers last week that he never intended to authorize the transfer of funds from customer accounts. If any subordinates moved clients’ money in the belief that Corzine had authorized it, “it was a misunderstanding,” he said.

Along with Corzine, Steenkamp and Abelow have been sued in class-action complaints on behalf of MF Global shareholders. The lawsuits accuse the executives of making false and misleading statements about MF Global’s financial strength and cash balances.

MF Global didn’t list the European debt on its balance sheet for all to see. Instead, those holdings were shifted to the company’s “off-balance sheet,” deep in its financial statements. Some separate filings with regulators excluded the European debt entirely.

A lawyer for the trustee overseeing the liquidation of MF Global’s brokerage operations said in court Friday that the trustee’s staff has discovered some “suspicious” trades in MF Global customer accounts that were made in the last days before the firm failed. The lawyer didn’t provide details.

Corzine said last week that customers’ losses weigh heavily on him.

“I think about this every day,” he said. “I could not be more regretful, more distressed that we are ruining people’s lives.”

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