The S&P 500 was on track for a record closing high on Monday, as a strong retail sales report underscored the strength of the U.S. economy and overshadowed worries from Omicron-driven flight cancellations that hit stocks in the travel sector. Retail sales in the country rose 8.5 percent during this year’s holiday shopping season from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24, powered by an ecommerce boom, a report by Mastercard Inc. showed. The S&P 500 retailing index firmed 0.4 percent. Travel-related stocks, typically sensitive to news around the coronavirus, declined after U.S. airlines canceled about 800 more flights on Monday after nixing thousands of flights during the Christmas weekend, as Omicron cases soared. The S&P 1500 airlines index shed 0.6 percent. Cruise operators Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Royal Caribbean, and Carnival Corp, fell 1.1 percent–2.3 percent, leading declines on the benchmark S&P 500. “The market is much more likely to respond …