By Peter A. McKay And Kristina Peterson
Stocks slipped, hurt by disappointing readings of manufacturing and jobless claims that fueled investors’ worries about the U.S. economy.
A strengthening of the euro and modest gains in some safe-haven stock sectors like utilities and consumer staples helped to limit the declines major indexes. But the trading session’s overall tone has been decidedly downbeat, with the major averages retreating from near break-even as the afternoon has progressed.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off by 46 points to 10363, off 0.4%. It was led by a 2.7% decline in Alcoa. The S&P 500 was off 0.6%, led by a 1.3% drop in its consumer-discretionary sector. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.5%.
Concerns about consumer spending surfaced after the Labor Department said that the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits increased last week.
Initial claims for jobless benefits rose 12,000 to 472,000 in the week ended June 12, when economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected claims would fall by 6,000.