Retail Sales Fall In May – Acadiana Business Index

Stocks sank before the markets closed on worries about Thursday's auction over Italian bonds and weak U.S. data. Rhonda Bordelon has your stock market report on the Acadiana Business Index.

• Stocks extended their losses into the closing bell. The Dow Jones fell 77 points to 12,496, the S&P 500 gave up 9 points to 1315, and the NASDAQ ended lower by 24 points to close at 2819. Composite volume on the NYSE was 3.3 billion shares with declining issues besting advancers by a margin of 2-1. The NASDAQ was 7-3 negative on issues. Stocks struggled to gain momentum after U.S. economic data provided a mixed picture and European uncertainties continued to weigh on investors.

• All 10 sectors on the S&P ended in the red, led by sharp declines in the industrial and material sectors. Shares of U.S. steel fell 36 cents to $18.03 and United Technologies gave up 81 cents to $73.54. Energy stocks were also under pressure as crude oil slid 95 cents to $82.37 per barrel. Exxon ended in the red by 63 cents to $80.63 and Transocean was off 80 cents to $41.87.

• In other news, JP Morgan gained 53 cents to $34.30 following CEO Jamie Dimon’s testimony to the Senate Banking Committee. On the M&A front, Johnson & Johnson gained $1.37 to $64.45 after the company announced that it had received regulatory clearance to move forward with its $19 billion acquisition of Synthes.

• In bondland, Treasuries were higher along the curve. The 10-year note was up 17 ticks to yield 1.60% and the 30-year bond gained over a point to yield 2.71%.

• Retail sales go into reverse, falling 0.2% in May and 0.2% in April

• Target Corporation increased its regular quarterly dividend by 20%

• Crude oil futures settle at $82.62

• Dell shares rise 2.5% following first ever dividend