--Raft of middling economic data fails to provide support for
stocks
--Political uncertainty a concern
--DJIA 61 lower; S&P down six
By Alexandra Scaggs
NEW YORK--A raft of middling economic data, disappointing
revenue from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., and political uncertainty in
the U.S. and abroad pushed the Dow toward its fourth straight daily
decline.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 61 points, or 0.5%, to
12510. The Dow slumped 185 points, or 1.5%, on Wednesday to close
at the lowest level since June 26.
The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell six points, or
0.5%, to 1349. The Nasdaq Composite shed 17 points, or 0.6%, to
2830.
Economic data points provided a mixed view of the state of the
U.S. recovery, with readings obscured by superstorm Sandy.
"Unfortunately, I think we're going to see some skewed numbers
from the hurricane for a while. The reason it's unfortunate is that
we'd love to have more accuracy, and we were starting to see a
positive trend," said Mike Shea, managing partner with Direct
Access Partners.
Initial claims for jobless benefits in the latest week spiked to
439,000, well above the 375,000 claims expected by economists,
because of the storm.
"It's a big jump," said Andrew Wilkinson, economic strategist
with Miller Tabak. "But there's no indication elsewhere that the
gentle improvement in the labor market has done anything other than
move forward."
The Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing index for November came in
lower than expected, with its reading of -10.7 indicating
contraction. Amna Asaf, an economist with Capital Economics, wrote
in a note that the Philadelphia reading was also likely affected by
Sandy.
The consumer price index for October rose 0.1% on the month, in
line with economist expectations. The Federal Reserve Bank of New
York's Empire State index of manufacturing activity for November
improved slightly, to -5.2 in November from -6.2 in October.
However, it indicates the fourth consecutive month of
contraction.
Stocks hit their session lows just before noon, as concerns
spread about tensions in the Middle East, with reports circulating
that a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed near Tel Aviv.
In earnings news, Dow component Wal-Mart Stores dropped 3.6%
after the discount retailing giant reported worse-than-expected
third-quarter revenue and fourth-quarter projections. It also
indicated that challenges regarding alleged violations of the U.S.
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act appear to have expanded. Rival Target
(TGT) gained 2.4% after beating Wall Street estimates and providing
an outlook that exceeded expectations.
European markets were broadly lower, with the Stoxx Europe 600
down 1% at a 2 1/2-month low, as investors were spooked by the euro
zone's move into recession and weak U.K. data.
Third-quarter gross domestic product for the 17-member euro zone
fell 0.1% on the quarter, or 0.4% on an annualized basis, following
a 0.7% annualized decline in the second quarter. Economists
generally define a recession as two consecutive quarters of
contraction. U.K. retail sales slid 0.8% in October versus
expectations of a 0.2% monthly decline.
Asian markets were mostly lower on the back of sharp weakness in
the U.S., although Japanese stocks rallied amid hopes for further
monetary stimulus. China's Shanghai Composite shed 1.2%, while
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rallied 1.9%.
Front-month crude-oil futures fell 0.6% to $85.83 a barrel,
while November gold futures eased 0.9% to $1,714.00 a troy ounce.
The dollar lost ground against the euro, but rallied against the
yen. Yields on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond fell to
1.581% as prices rose.
In other corporate news, Diamond Foods fell 21% after it said it
swung to a loss for the first three quarters of fiscal 2012, as the
snack food company completed a restatement of its financials
required after an internal probe uncovered improper accounting of
payments to walnut growers.
NetApp rallied 10% after the data-storage company reported
better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue and
provided a somewhat upbeat earnings outlook for the current
quarter.
Viacom rose 4.1% after the media giant reported
better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, offsetting a
slight shortfall in revenue.
DryShips slumped 14% after the dry bulk shipper reported a
wider-than-expected third-quarter loss and revenue that missed
forecasts.
Write to Alexandra Scaggs at alexandra.scaggs@dowjones.com