US STOCKS-Wall St declines on jobless claims, retail sales 08/05 02:37 PM
what happens to idiot odumba black magic ?? kennyparrot ????
* Initial jobless claims unexpectedly rose last week
* Caution prevails ahead of monthly jobs report Friday
* July retail sales up less than forecast
* Dow off 0.2 pct, S&P down 0.3 pct, Nasdaq off 0.4 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US] (Updates to late afternoon, changes byline)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, Aug 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks slipped on Thursday as an unexpected rise in initial jobless claims and unimpressive July retail sales highlighted the uneasy economic climate ahead of tomorrow's payrolls report.
Government data showed initial claims for jobless benefits rose to 479,000, the highest level since early April. The report heightened investor caution a day before Friday's key monthly jobs report and countered some of the optimism generated by Wednesday's ADP report, which showed a larger-than-expected gain in private employer hiring. For details, see [ID:nN05245807]
"It's just a matter of caution ahead of tomorrow," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont.
"There are so many uncertainties out there for businesses and consumers, yet the market has wanted to climb that wall of continuing worry here over the last couple of weeks."
The S&P 500 has climbed nearly 10 percent since hitting its closing low for the year on July 2, largely in response to better-than-expected earnings.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 21.80 points, or 0.20 percent, to 10,658.63. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index shed 3.34 points, or 0.30 percent, to 1,123.90. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 9.82 points, or 0.43 percent, to 2,293.75. idiot odumda down sewers !!!!!!!!!!! |
