Stocks Fluctuacted, Retail Sales Rose

U.S. stocks searched for direction in the early trading on Friday, as investors assessed retail sales data for October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately was down 11.69 points, or 0.07%, to 17,641.10. The S&P 500 was off 0.81 point, or 0.04%, to 2,038.52. The Nasdaq Composite fell 9.87points, or 0.21%, to 4,670.27.
U.S. retail sales rose modestly in October, evidence that recent job gains and lower gas prices are lifting consumer spending as the holiday shopping season begins.The Commerce Department said Friday that retail sales rose 0.3 percent last month after falling by the same amount in September. Excluding gas stations, where falling prices lowered spending, sales rose a solid 0.5 percent.
The prices paid for imported goods fell 1.3% in October, the Labor Department said Friday. The price of U.S.-made goods exported to other nations, meanwhile, declined by 1% last month%. In September, the drop in import prices was revised down to 0.4% from 0.5%.

Crude-oil futures continued to slide on Friday after sharp overnight losses that traders say has reinforced bearish market sentiment and potentially set the stage for further declines. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at $73.45 a barrel, down 76 cents, or 1.1%.

Pacific Investment Management Co. paid its former Chief Investment Officer Bill Gross a bonus of about $290 million in 2013, a year in which his Total Return Fund trailed a majority of peers, according to documents provided to Bloomberg View by someone with knowledge of Pimco’s bonus policies.

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