Wall Street capped a record-setting week with a day of mostly listless trading Friday that left the three major U.S. stock indexes essentially flat.
The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 index closed slightly lower. The Nasdaq composite eked out a tiny gain, giving the tech-heavy index its fourth record-high close in a week.
Investors mostly focused on the latest batch of company earnings from retailers and other companies, as well as new data indicating that U.S. retail sales in July were more sluggish than expected.
Materials companies fell the most. Energy stocks led the gainers as crude oil prices rose again.
While the retail sales data may have dimmed some traders' views on the economy, most of the selling was likely a reflection of some investors locking in profits while the market remains near its all-time high, said JJ Kinahan, TD Ameritrade's chief strategist.
"It's a summer Friday on a week that we were higher," Kinahan said. "It's more of a 'Why take unnecessary risks? Take some profits, go home happy.'"
The Dow fell 37.05 points, or 0.2 percent, to 18,576.47. The S&P 500 index lost 1.74 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,184.05. The declines pulled both indexes slightly below their most-recent all-time highs set Thursday.
The Nasdaq bucked the trend, adding 4.50 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5,232.89. The Nasdaq also closed at a record high last Friday, Tuesday and Thursday. It's now up 11 percent over the past seven weeks, the longest winning streak for the index in more than four years.
So far this year, the Dow is up 6.6 percent, the S&P 500 has gained 6.9 percent and the Nasdaq is up 4.5 percent.
This week, investors had their eye on the health of retailers. They welcomed the latest quarterly snapshots for Macy's, Kohl's and Nordstrom, sending their shares higher earlier in the week.
Some of that continued Friday as traders cheered results from Nordstrom, J.C. Penney and Dillard's.
Nordstrom surged 8 percent a day after the department store chain reported earnings that beat Wall Street's expectations. The company also raised its profit guidance for the year. The stock gained $3.82 to $51.38.
J.C. Penney said a pickup in sales helped trim the chain's second-quarter loss from a year earlier. The stock added 61 cents, or 6.1 percent, to $10.55. Dillard's rose 3.4 percent after the retailer posted a second-quarter profit that was larger than analysts expected. Its shares gained $2.26 to $68.67.
Benchmark U.S. crude was rose $1, or 2.3 percent, to close at $44.49 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 93 cents, or 2 percent, to close at $46.97 a barrel in London.
In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline added a penny to $1.37 a gallon, while heating oil rose 2 cents to $1.41 a gallon. Natural gas gained 3 cents to $2.58 per 1,000 cubic feet.
The major stock indexes in Europe mostly closed lower. The DAX index in Germany fell 0.3 percent, while France's CAC 40 was slid 0.1 percent. Britain's FTSE was flat.
Gold and other precious metals declined. Gold slid $6.70, or 0.5 percent, to $1,335.80 an ounce. Silver lost 32 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $19.70 an ounce. Copper fell 5 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $2.14 a pound.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.51 percent from 1.56 late Thursday.
In currency markets, the dollar weakened to 101.27 yen from 101.93 on Thursday. The euro strengthened to $1.1164 from $1.1141.
Business on 08/13/2016