January Retail Sales Lower Than Expected – Acadiana Business Index
Stocks opened lower, but then recovered late in the trading day. Mark Lasseigne has your stock market report on today's Acadiana Business Index.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 4 points to 12,8748.
- Data on U.S. retail sales in January fell short of expectations, but were still positive according to the Commerce Department.
- Moody's Investors Service downgraded a number of European debt ratings, including those of Spain, Italy and Portugal, and cut its outlook on triple-A-rated France, the U.K. and Austria. The moves did not rattle U.S. stocks.
In corporate news,
- Goodyear Tire & Rubber dropped over 5% after the company reported disappointing quarterly results. The company said it expects slower growth in the global tire industry than expected.
- Avon Products rose 1.5% although the beauty-products seller reported fourth-quarter results that missed expectations.
- Crude-oil closed to $100.74 a barrel.
- Gold closed at $1,716 an ounce.