Macy's drags Wall Street lower

By Havovi Cooper

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday after department store Macy's disappointed investors with weak results, dragging down consumer stocks.

Macy's reported a sales and profit miss in the second quarter and cut its full-year earnings forecast. The chain was forced to discount items as consumers' limited their spending on non-essential goods. Macy's stock fell 4.5 percent to $46.36, and was the largest percentage decliner on the S&P 500.

The S&P's consumer discretionary sector was down 0.8 percent.

Apple shares extended their climb, gaining 1.6 percent to $497.53, a day after activist investor Carl Icahn tweeted that he has a "large position" in Apple and believes the stock could be worth as much as $700 a share if CEO Tim Cook pushed for a larger buyback.

 

Trading volume has been among the lowest of the year, as earnings season winds down and economic indicators present a mixed view of economic growth.

Producer prices were flat in July, below expectations for a 0.3 percent increase. The data could add to worries at the Fed that inflation is too low.

"Everyone keeps talking about tapering and any data that could be negative for the U.S. economy will push tapering out further," said Angel Mata, managing director of equity trading at Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets in Baltimore.

Equities have been tethered to Fed policy for much of the year with the S&P currently less than 1 percent away from its all-time high. Many traders are awaiting clarity on when the Fed's $85 billion a month asset purchasing program could begin to slow before adjusting positions.

Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said Tuesday the U.S. central bank could begin to slow its quantitative easing (QE) stimulus as early as next month, though data has been too mixed to outline a detailed exit strategy.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 78.64 points or 0.51 percent, to 15,372.37, the S&P 500 lost 5.79 points or 0.34 percent, to 1,688.37 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 9.72 points or 0.26 percent, to 3,674.723.

The Market Vectors Egypt Index ETF fell 3 percent to $44.70 as Egypt's death toll rose to 95 and a state of emergency was declared following political clashes in the country.

Deere & Co fell 2.2 percent to $82.05, even as its third-quarter earnings and sales beat expectations. The stock had advanced in premarket trading.

Shares of Chinese solar panel maker Jinko Solar jumped 9.5 percent to $14.84 after the company swung to a profit following seven quarters of losses.

(Editing by Nick Zieminski)