Stocks Open Lower as Retailers Dragged

U.S. stocks opened modestly lower on Thursday as Macy’s weak earnings weighed on the consumer discretionary sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 124.77 points, 0.60%, to 20,818.34. The S&P 500 lost 14.80 points, or 0.62%, to 2,384.83. The Nasdaq Composite shed 42.34 points, or 0.69%, to 6,086.80.

Crude futures pushed higher Thursday as investors are interpreting the latest hefty decline in U.S. crude inventories to be a harbinger of future demand. Light, sweet crude futures for delivery in June climbed 64 cents, or 1.4%, to $47.97 a barrel. May Brent crude picked up 60 cents, or 1.2%, to $50.82 a barrel.

Macy’s (M) reported disappointing first quarter sales. Comparable store sales during the three months ending in April were down 4.6%. Net revenue came in at $5.3 billion. The company earned $0.24 per share.

New applications for U.S. jobless benefits unexpectedly fell last week while producer prices rebounded strongly in April, pointing to a tightening labor market and rising inflation that could spur the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in June. Labor market strength was also underscored by a sharp drop in the number of Americans on unemployment rolls to a 28-1/2-year low in the final week of April.

U.S. producer prices showed a broad-based gain in April, which pushed the annual increase up to the largest advance in five years, government data showed. The Labor Department said on Thursday its producer-price index for final demand rose 0.5% last month.