Wall Street Edges Down Despite Retail Sales Boost

The three major indexes spent much of the day in negative territory as rising US Treasury yields pressured market-leading tech stocks, and the rising dollar weighed on exporters.

Amazon.com, buoyed by solid online sales in the Commerce Department's report, helped push the Nasdaq into positive territory.

"Looking at today, clearly we had positive news from retail sales and it looks as if the massive slowdown in the economy is not materializing as a lot of people expected," said Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"It's a nice reminder that the economy is still taking two steps forward for each step back even amid the Covid concerns," Detrick added.

Economically sensitive transports and microchips were among the outperformers.

Data released before the opening bell showed an unexpected bump in retail sales as shoppers weathered Hurricane Ida and the Covid Delta variant, evidence of resilience in the consumer, who contributes about 70 percent to US economic growth.

"Once again, it shows the U.S. consumer continues to spend and continues to help this economy grow," Detrick said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.18 percent, to 34,751; the S&P 500 lost 0.16 percent, at 4,474; and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.13 percent, at 15,182.

Eight of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500 ended lower, with materials suffering the largest percentage drop. (Reuters)