The Nasdaq composite index rose two points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,739. But the report contained still more bad news for department stores: online and catalog shopping jumped 10 percent from a year ago, and sales at department stores are down nearly 2 percent.
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US stock index futures were lower on Friday as oil prices fell and investors awaited April retail sales data for clues on the strength of the economy.
MORE RETAIL WOES: Department store Kohl’s said its sales dropped and its income was weighed down by high costs. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down two points at 2,061.
The final trading day of the week, which has been marred by weak retail earnings, is shaping up poorly on Wall Street ahead of the April retail sales report, following another big profit miss from a major USA retailer after Thursday’s closing bell. It’s up more than 20 percent this year. The stock fell $4.30, or 11.1 percent, to $34.40. The sizable sales miss injects a fresh sense of worry into investors trying to decipher whether weak sales at department stores and apparel retailers is signaling a consumer slowdown, or whether its specific to a sliver of the retail space. France’s CAC 40 lost 0.6 percent. The Dow is lower this week and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are holding on to tiny gains. Its stock slid $2.54, or 2.7 percent, to $89.97. Intel lost 37 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $29.69.
EAT UP: Burger chain Jack in the Box reported strong results, including better sales at its Qdoba Mexican restaurants.
CARDED: Payment card company CPI Card Group reported disappointing results as shipments of chip-enabled cards were lower than expected. Nordstrom’s stock tumbled $4.74, or 10.5 per cent, to $40.51. The company’s IPO priced at $10 per share in October. Oil futures fell 54 cents or 1.1 percent to $46.16 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude, the benchmark for worldwide oil prices, lost 33 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $47.75 a barrel in London.
Oil was on the rise Thursday, with USA -produced crude rising 56 cents a barrel, or 1.2%, to $46.79. The price of oil is slipping after a string of recent gains. Brent crude, the benchmark for global oil prices, lost 63 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $46.97 a barrel in London.
Monsanto jumped 9 percent on reports that Bayer is in talks to buy it. Oil companies rose along with the price of crude. The FTSE 100 in Britain was 0.2 percent higher.
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Two of the strongest stocks in the Dow were ExxonMobil and Chevron, which both gained 1 per cent as United States oil prices rose to a new peak for 2016. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 255 index lost 1.4 percent and South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.5 percent. The euro fell to $1.1298 from $1.1373 and the dollar inched up to 109.13 yen from 109.14 yen.
