Stocks slump as retail
sales mixed in July

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Associated Press

NEW YORK >> The stock market ended the session nearly flat today after suffering yet another disappointment -- retail sales reports that showed consumers aren't spending at a pace likely to recharge the economy.

Some last-minute buying after a choppy session lifted the major indexes, but ultimately too few investors stepped forward to give stocks any real advance.

"I don't think, in general, that people feel there's a pressing need to put money to work in this market," said Michael Strauss, managing director at Commonfund. "Six to nine months from now things will probably look better, but we just have to get through this, and that's proving difficult."

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 5.06 at 10,298.56, barely making a dent in its 165-point loss yesterday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 0.10 to 1,183.42, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 3.04 to 1,963.32. All three indexes have spent the summer trading in roughly the same narrow range as investors buy stocks on hopes the economy is improving and then sell them when it becomes clear it is not.

Advancers led decliners 8 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,711 up, 1,378 down and 210 unchanged. Volume was 1.09 billion shares vs. 1.11 billion yesterday. The NYSE composite index fell 16 cents to 604.26, the American Stock Exchange composite index gained 3.48 to 873.57 and the Russell 2000 index rose 1.55 to 474.17. The Treasury's 10-year note fell 1232 to 99 1/4; its yield rose 5 basis points to 5.10 percent. The 30-year bond fell 12/32 to 97 23/32; its yield rose 3 basis points to 5.53 percent.

Gap fell $1.57 to $25.60 on a 12 percent drop in July sales at stores open a year. Wal-Mart dropped 84 cents to $53.69, after reporting better-than-expected July sales but indicating tougher times might be ahead.

But women's retailer BeBe rose $2.58 to $33.15 on an 11 percent gain in July sales.