The S&P and Dow were struggling for direction on Friday as investors digested strong April retail sales data that seemed to contradict the gloomy earnings reports by department stores. The Nasdaq eked out a small gain, helped by a bounce in Apple's shares a day after they hit a two-year low. The US 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 excludes automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, also rose more than expected.
But, consumer stocks 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 US economic activity. At 11:04 am ET (1504 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average was down 42.97 points, or 0.24 percent, at 17,677.53. The S&P 500 was down 3.68 points, or 0.18 percent, at 2,060.43.
The Nasdaq Composite was up 7.29 points, or 0.15 percent, at 4,744.63. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,524 to 1,286. On the Nasdaq, 1,311 issues rose and 1,222 fell. The S&P 500 index showed 13 new 52-week highs and 8 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 19 new highs and 45 new lows.
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