Fresh worries about weak US consumer spending going into the crucial holiday sent US shares tumbling for the third straight day on Friday.
Shares of retailers from Target Corp to Amazon.com Inc fell sharply after data showed barely any growth in US retail sales last month and yet another department store chain, JC Penney Co, turned in a disappointing quarterly report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 202.83 points (1.16 percent) at 17,245.24.
The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 22.93 (1.12 percent) to 2,023.04, while the tech-rich NASDAQ Composite lost 77.20 (1.54 percent) at 4,927.88.
“The retail sales numbers today were disappointing,” said Tom Cahill of Ventura Wealth Management. “A good portion of the growth we’re experiencing — even though it’s slow growth — is due to the consumer. From this stand point, if the consumer starts to retrench, that obviously can be very concerning for growth expectations.”
Among the larger chain stores, struggling JC Penney fell 15.4 percent, and Nordstrom Inc lost 15.4 percent. Target lost 4.1 percent, Kohl’s Corp 6.4 percent and Macy’s Inc 4.2 percent.
The toll extended to Amazon, despite last month’s retail sales report showing that online sales were growing strongly.
Analysts were still holding out hope that consumers are gearing up for a year-end Christmas shopping splurge.
“Retail sales excluding the impact of gasoline sales have failed to rise meaningfully for the last three months, even as lower energy costs should leave more dollars in consumer hands,” said Jay Morelock at FTN Financial. “Households could be saving up for a holiday binge, making the next two retail sales reports of utmost importance when gauging the health of the consumer.”
Oil company shares were hit again by lower crude prices: ExxonMobil Corp was down 1.7 percent and Chevron Corp 1.3 percent.
Shares of networking giant Cisco Systems Inc sank 5.8 percent after it forecast lower revenues and profits in the current quarter than analysts expected, citing lower orders and the strong dollar’s effect.
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