Retail Winners & Losers: the Digital Boost

Retailers rallied on Thursday on some good news in the sector.

The S&P Retail Index climbed 4% to 355.62 led up by some big winners like eBay(EBAY Quote), Amazon.com(AMZN Quote) and, surprisingly, women's apparel retailers.

eBay soared 8% to $21.10 a day after the online retailer reported better-than-expected earnings. While profit slumped 29%, the company beat analysts' forecast and issued a third-quarter forecast higher than Wall Street's expectations.

Amazon also made a big move on Wednesday, purchasing online shoe retailer Zappos.com. The company said it will buy Zappos for about $807 million in stock and will pay $40 million in cash and stock to Zappos employees.

Shares of Amazon grew 5.5% in afternoon trading to $93.70.

Women's retailers, a sector that had been under pressure months before the recession actually began, showed some signs of hope on Thursday.

Coldwater Creek(CWTR Quote) said that while it still expects a second-quarter loss between 5 cents and 7 cents a share, there are some improving business trends. Shares of the company rose 10% to $6.19 in afternoon trading and sent up shares of other retailers in the sector.

AnnTaylor Stores(ANN Quote) soared 16% to $9.93, Chico's FAS(CHS Quote) jumped 7.5% to $10.90, New York & Company(NWY Quote) shot up 14% to $3.60 and Talbots(TLB Quote) bounced 10% to $4.52.