NEW YORK, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended lower on Wednesday, as Wall Street digested a batch of mixed data, including an unexpected fall in U.S. retail sales in September, stoking worries over a potential economic downturn in the country.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 22.82 points, or 0.08 percent, to 27,001.98. The S&P 500 dipped 5.99 points, or 0.20 percent, to 2,989.69. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 24.52 points, or 0.30 percent, to 8,124.18.
Six of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors traded lower around market close, with the energy sector down 1.44 percent, leading the losers.
More than half of the blue-chip stocks in the Dow extended losses around the closing bell, with shares of Exxon Mobile and Chevron down over 1.71 percent and 1.03 percent respectively, leading the laggards.
However, the continuing release of stronger-than-expected earnings results from a batch of corporates has given the market a leg up, with shares of Bank of America up 1.48 percent.
On the economic front, U.S. retail and food services sales for September declined 0.3 percent to 525.6 billion U.S. dollars from the previous month, marking their first retreat in seven month.
The disappointing reading came as household spending pulled back primarily on building materials, motor vehicles and gasoline, according to the U.S. Census Bureau on Wednesday.
The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers' shipments for August rose 0.2 percent from the previous month to be estimated at 1,463.9 billion dollars, the U.S. Census Bureau reported on Wednesday.
Manufacturers' and trade inventories were estimated at an end-of-month level of 2,042.1 billion dollars, virtually unchanged from July.
