NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks are edging mostly lower Thursday morning, led by declines in consumer stocks after Wal-Mart reported disappointing results and cut its sales projections. The market is coming off a three-day rally, its longest so far this year. The price of crude oil continued to recover.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 39 points, or 0.2 percent, to 16,493 as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down less than a point at 1,926. The Nasdaq composite fell 8 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,525.
The S&P 500 is up more than 5 percent over the last three days, with banks and consumer stocks making the biggest gains. Over those three days the index erased about half the losses it has taken this year.
SALES STUMBLE: Wal-Mart said its profit slipped in the fourth quarter as its sales came in weaker than analysts expected. The retailer now says its revenue in 2016 will be about the same as in 2015. The company had expected growth of 2 to 4 percent.
Wal-Mart is struggling with competition from online giant Amazon and other retailers, and in January the company said it would close 269 stores. Its shares are down 27 percent over the last year.