This has been a bad week for stocks as U.S. stocks fell for the forth consecutive days. Disappointing economic reports and poor earnings in the retail sector dealt a one-two punch that weighed down the market. The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index shows consumer sentiment rose to 69.6 for early August from 67.8 the previous month, but the gain was too small to satisfy Wall Street. Another economic report from the Labor Department shows Consumer Price Index rose 0.3% in July, slightly higher than expected. Finally, U.S. Retail Sales rose less than expected in July, only a 0.4% increase instead of the projected 0.5%.
From the retail sector, Nordstrom (JWN: Charts, News, Offers) fell 7.15% and JCPenny (JCP: Charts, News, Offers) fell 4.71% due to profit missing expectation, higher inventory, and lower than expected revenue and earnings forecasts. Even Dillard’s (DDS: Charts, News, Offers) who managed to swing to a second quarter profit and beat analysts expectation fell 5.07%.
Overall, the Dow fell 16.80 points to 10,303.15, the S&P 500 was down 4.36 points to 1,079.25, and the NASDAQ dropped 16.79 points to 2,173.48.
Oil fell 35 cents to $75.39 a barrel, and gold edged down be 10 cents to settle at $1,216.60 an ounce. The only thing that went up was the prices for Treasurys, as the 10-year yield lowered to 2.688%.
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