Stocks on Wall Street Search Direction, Retail Sales Rise

Nichole Harper
13 May, 2013
New York City

Stocks on Wall Street traded sideways and retail sales in April rose unexpectedly. Markets in Europe eased but in Japan soared after the yen dropped to a new 5-year low.

[R]11:40 AM New York – Stocks on Wall Street traded sideways and retail sales in April rose unexpectedly. Markets in Europe eased but in Japan soared after the yen dropped to a new 5-year low.[/R]

Market index on Wall Street opened lower and retail sales unexpectedly rose in April.

S&P 500 index declined 1.57 to 1,632.19 and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.31 to 3,435.33.

The Commerce Department said today, retail sales increased 0.1% in April after 0.5% decline in March. Retail sales account 30% of consumer spending.

Core retail sales, excluding automobiles, fuel and building materials, used in the calculation of GDP data increased 0.5% from an increase of 0.1% in March.

Auto sales increased 1% in the month, and retail sales excluding autos declined 0.1% afte falling 0.4% in March.

European Markets

European markets retreated from the 5-year high after airlines and banks led the decliners.

FTSE 100 index traded flat in London, the DAX index declined 0.1% and the CAC 40 index eased 0.3%.

Asian Markets

Markets in Japan rose to a new 5-year high after the yen dropped to a new 45-month low after G7 meeting of ministers failed to criticize the latest Japanese efforts to weaken the yen.

Markets in India declined 1.9% after exports increased 1.6%, fourth monthly increase in a row but trade deficit widened 70% to $17.8 billion in April.

The government has been discouraging gold consumption, the second most imported commodity after oil, but demand surged after prices declined last month. Total imports in the month increased 10.9% from a year ago month to $41.95 billion overshadowing 1.6% increased to $24.16 billion.

Separately, consumer price index declined to 9.39% in April from 10.39% in March.

Market index in Hong Kong declined 1.4% and smaller markets in Thailand and Indonesia declined and in Malaysia and South Korea closed higher.

Markets in Pakistan soared 1.8% after former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s leads the latest parliamentary elections.

Stocks in Review

Yum Brands ((YUM)) declined 2.4% after the operator of fast food chains said sales in China declined 29% last month on the Avian flu worries.

Theravance soared 13% after the drugmaker Elan Corp plans to purchase right to future royalties from the respiratory treatments developed by the company with GlaxoSmithKline for $1 billion.

Bloomberg CEO Daniel Doctoroff wrote on the company’s website on Friday that reporters had access to “limited customer relationship management data.”

He added that the practice of access has been terminated after Goldman Sachs confronted the financial news provider that reporters were monitoring how employees at the investment bank were using the data terminals.

Doctoroff issued a statement after the news was first reported by New York Post.

Bloomberg could face federal probe following the company’s public acknowledgement of the privacy violation.