Wall Street Takes a Step Backward

Stocks dropped on Thursday after retailers posted mixed monthly sales and the euro fell against the dollar.

The Standard Poor’s 500-stock index ended down 0.2 percent, while the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.3 percent and the Nasdaq composite index declined 0.1 percent. European markets ended mostly lower.

At a news conference, Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank, said the euro exchange rate was important to growth and price stability, remarks that investors took as a sign the bank was concerned with the single currency’s recent advance. The euro fell to $1.3385.

Mr. Draghi denied that the E.C.B. was trying to influence the value of the euro, but he then made statements that markets interpreted as meaning the E.C.B. could take action if the euro rises too much.

Separately, the United States government said that weekly initial jobless claims dipped by 5,000 to 366,000. The four-week moving average fell to its lowest level since March 2008, signaling that the economy is continuing to recover slowly.

Another report showed that fourth-quarter productivity registered its biggest drop in nearly two years, while unit labor costs jumped 4.5 percent, more than economists expected.

“Claims didn’t look too exciting. They are pretty much in line,” said Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at OakBrook Investments in Lisle, Ill. “The bigger surprise was the jump in unit labor costs that was pretty substantial. Over all, the market took the whole thing in stride.”

Several American retailers reported mixed January sales results, as consumers faced a hit to their take-home pay from higher payroll taxes. Macy’s shares rose 2 percent after the company reported that January same-store sales rose 11.7 percent.

Greenlight Capital, run by the fund manager David Einhorn, said on Thursday that it had sued Apple, saying the company should do more to unlock value for shareholders. Apple shares gained 1.8 percent.

Sprint Nextel edged down 1 percent after the mobile service provider posted higher fourth-quarter revenue, but subscriber numbers that disappointed Wall Street.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/08/business/daily-stock-market-activity.html?partner=rss&emc=rss