US stocks hit by weak consumer data

NEW YORK: Data showing weak US consumer buying in May took a hit on US
stocks on Wednesday, with consumer goods companies leading the fall of
the markets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 77.42 points (0.62 percent) at 12,496.38.

The
broad-market SandP 500 lost 9.30 points (0.70 percent) to 1,314.88,
while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite slipped 24.46 points (0.86
percent) to 2,818.61.

A range of popular brands took hits, with Starbucks dropping 3.3 percent, Fresh Market 2.9 percent, and Nike 5.0 percent.

May
retail sales fell 0.2 percent from April, and excluding autos were down
a heftier 0.4 percent, the Commerce Department reported.

"Considerable
weakness is showing up on the consumer front as the May retail sales
report is in line with weak job numbers, declining consumer confidence,
a volatile stock market" and other factors, said Chris Christopher at
IHS Global Insight.

Charles Schwab analysts said it was "a rough
afternoon session, continuing a choppy week that has seen sharp moves
in both directions for the major indices."

On the Dow, American Express led the losers, falling 2.4 percent.

Johnson
and Johnson headed up the gainers, adding 2.2 percent, after announcing
it had regulatory approval to complete its US$19.7 billion acquisition
of surgery equipment maker Synthes on Thursday.

Shares in
blue-chip JPMorgan Chase rose 1.6 percent after chief executive Jamie
Dimon received kid-glove treatment in a Senate committee hearing. He
was called to testify on how the storied Wall Street investment bank
lost at least US$2 billion in risky bets.

Internet pioneer
Yahoo! and US cable news network CNBC on Wednesday launched a new drive
to provide more original content both on the Yahoo! Finance website and
on the air.

Yahoo! shares fell 0.9 percent and CNBC parent Disney slipped 0.3 percent.

Dell surged 2.6 percent after the struggling computer maker announced it will start paying a dividend to investors.

Zynga
added 1.3 percent. The social media games maker on Tuesday launched its
"Draw Something" in China as it moved to get non-English speakers
caught up in the craze for the mobile phone game based on representing
words with pictures. -- AFP