Stocks on Wall Street traded slightly lower on Thursday, as investors digested data on the American economy that indicated some pullback, as well as some positive news from auctions of European sovereign debt.þþThe number of Americans applying for first-time jobless benefits increased last week, the Labor Department reported on Thursday, reversing a recent decline, and the Commerce Department said retail sales rose at the weakest pace in seven months in December.þþIn Europe, Italian and Spanish government bond yields fell sharply as the strong bond auctions were taken as an encouraging sign. The European Central Bank also left its benchmark rate at 1 percent.þþAll three major indexes on Wall Street — the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, the Dow Jones industrial average and the Nasdaq composite index — fell by 0.4 percent in morning trading.þþEuropean stocks were mixed. The DAX in Frankfurt climbed 0.3 percent, while the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.1 percent. The FTSE 100 in London was off 0.3 percent.þþBank stocks led gains in Europe. The KBW bank index has risen 10.2 percent in the first seven sessions of the year after falling 24.6 percent in 2011.þþOn Wall Street, shares in Chevron fell after the company said fourth-quarter profit would be significantly below that of the previous quarter.þþSears Holdings dropped 9.5 percent after Bloomberg News reported the CIT Group would no longer finance supplier shipments to the retailer.þþWynn Resorts fell 5 percent a day after its largest shareholder filed a request seeking records on the company’s investments. A Bank of America Merrill Lynch research note said there was an implication in the request that funds might have been spent improperly.þþStocks on Wall Street had held firm near recent five-month highs on Wednesday, recovering from early losses.
Source: NY Times
