Dow Jones Industrial Average Slides As Apple (AAPL) Rebounds From Two-Year Low, Oil Prices Slip

IBT Staff Report

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Photo: Getty

This story was updated at 4:15 p.m. EDT.

U.S. stocks sank Friday afternoon as a decline in oil prices added to pressure from consumer stocks after strong April retail sales data was overshadowed by gloomy earnings reports from retailers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 185 points, or 1 percent, at 17,535 at the close of trading, while the broader S&P 500 stock index was down 18 points, or 1 percent, at 2,047. The Nasdaq composite slid 20 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,718.

The Nasdaq gave up early gains to trade flat as the drop in consumer stocks was offset by gains in technology shares, led by Apple and Nvidia.

Oil prices slipped Friday as a strong dollar provided pressure, and investors cashed in on gains from a three-day rally.

The U.S. Commerce Department said retail sales jumped 1.3 percent last month, the largest gain since March 2015 and a bigger rise than the 0.8 percent economists were expecting. Core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, also rose more than expected.

Consumer stocks, which have been under pressure this week after a string of feeble earnings reports, fell after two more department store operators, Nordstrom and J.C. Penney reported lower-than-expected sales.

Nordstrom, like Macy’s, also cut its full-year forecast, stoking fears of weakening consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.

“The retail sales that we are seeing today is backward. I would put less weight on backward-looking data and I would put more weight on management’s discussion of guidance in the future, and that doesn’t look good,” said Mohannad Aama, managing director at Beam Capital Management LLC in New York.

“Investors are starting to build a mosaic of information suggesting that the consumer is not doing as well as you would expect.”

Eight of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower, led by the energy index’s fall.

The consumer staples index dropped, weighed down by a 3 percent slide in Wal-Mart.

Nordstrom slumped 13 percent to $39 after its weak report while J.C. Penney was little changed as it maintained its full-year sales forecast.

Apple was up 0.2 percent a day after hitting a two-year low. Nvidia surged 15 percent to $41 after it forecast better-than-expected revenue for the current quarter.

Data from Reuters were used to report this story.