Stock market indexes wavered in afternoon trading Wednesday. A weak report from Macy’s pushed retail stocks lower, and energy stocks retreated as the price of oil fell.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average lost 15 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,742 as of 2 p.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost two points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,079. The Nasdaq composite added one point to 5,084.
MACY’S HIT: The department store chain reported sales for the third quarter that were lower than analysts were expecting. The company, which also owns Bloomingdale’s, cut its profit forecast for the year. It also announced more store closures and said it won’t form a real estate investment trust to get more revenue from its properties. Macy’s plunged $7.07, or 15 percent, to $39.95, on pace for its biggest one-day drop since 2008.
RETAIL SKIDS: Retailers were sharply lower. Citi Investment Research analyst Paul Lejuez said fewer people bought winter clothes like boots and coats in the third quarter because the weather was warm. That meant they were less likely to go shopping for clothes at all, so inventories built up and discounts increased. That’s a troubling sign with the holiday shopping season coming up.
“That’s bad for anybody that competes against Macy’s,” he said.
Kohl’s fell $2.89, or 6.3 percent, to $42.71 and Nordstrom dropped $2.70, or 4.2 percent, to $62.03. Urban Outfitters fell $1.87, or 6.5 percent, to $26.84. PVH Corp., the company behind the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands, lost $5.49, or 5.9 percent, to $87.44.
BREWING UP A DEAL: The two largest beer makers in the world agreed to combine. The $107 billion joining of AB InBev and SABMiller brings together brands including Budweiser, Corona, Grolsch and Stella Artois. The combined company will make about a third of the world’s beer.
AB InBev rose $3.12, or 2.6 percent, to $121.47.
As part of the agreement, SABMiller will sell its 58 percent stake in a U.S. joint venture to Molson Coors for $12 billion. Molson Coors gained $3.75, or 4.2 percent, to $92.06.
ENERGY: Oil prices dropped 3 percent, dragging down energy stocks. Price Futures Group analyst Phil Flynn said oil prices are falling because of a report that showed a big buildup in U.S. crude supplies. The American Petroleum Institute said supplies grew by 6.3 million barrels, a number that was far larger than analysts expected.
The U.S. government will release its own report on Thursday. The Energy Information Administration report usually comes out Wednesday, but is delayed because of the Veteran’s Day holiday.
“The market’s going to be looking very closely for signs that US output is going to start to fall and we’ll be looking for signs that demand is going up,” Flynn said.
U.S. crude slid $1.38 to $42.83 a barrel in New York and Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, slid $1.42 to $46.68.
Marathon Oil fell $1.47, or 7.9 percent, to $17.31 and Apache slid $4.42, or 8.3 percent, to $42.29.
CHINA FACTOR: China’s government says retail sales growth edged up in October, suggesting economic growth has stabilized even though factory output and investment got weaker. E-commerce giant Alibaba said it smashed records during the “Singles Day” holiday. Late in the shopping day, Alibaba said orders were around $12.6 billion.
NOT ALARMED: Security company ADT added $1.03, or 3.2 percent, to $33.58 after its fiscal fourth quarter profit surpassed analysts’ estimates.
HORIZON FALLS: Drugmaker Horizon Pharma sank 16 percent as it continued a dispute with pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts. Horizon said it is questioning its relationship with Express Scripts, which is suing Horizon and took a pharmacy that dispenses Horizon’s drugs out of its network. It’s the latest tussle between drugmakers and companies that pay for their products. Horizon shares have lost about half their value since the end of July.
Shares of Horizon lost $3.53 to $18.85.
METALS: The price of gold declined $3.60 to $1,084.90 an ounce. Silver fell 9.3 cents to $14.26 an ounce. Copper was little changed at $2.218 a pound.
CURRENCIES, BONDS: The dollar slipped to 122.99 yen from 123.25 yen. The euro rose to $1.0731 from $1.0707. U.S. bond trading was closed for Veteran’s Day.