NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. stocks are slipping in early trading Thursday as retailers and communications and media companies decline. Women’s clothing retailer J. Jill is tumbling after it slashed its forecast for the third quarter. AT&T is falling after it said it expects to lose DirecTV subscribers, while cable company Charter and entertainment conglomerate Viacom are down on reports that Viacom channels may go off the air in the New York area because of a contract dispute.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 3 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,552 as of 10:13 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 16 points, or 0.1 percent, to 22,856. The Nasdaq composite shed 6 points, or 0.1 percent, to 6,597. All three of those indexes closed at record highs Wednesday. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks lost 3 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,503.
BLANK SCREEN: AT&T said it will lose about 90,000 DirecTV video subscribers in the U.S. because of growing competition in streaming video services. It said tighter credit standards and hurricanes also affected its business. AT&T also said hurricanes and the recent earthquakes in Mexico will reduces its earnings by about $210 million in the next quarter. Its stock fell $1.25, or 3.3 percent, to $36.94.
Competitor Verizon Communications shed 34 cents to $38.52.
CABLE COMBAT: Viacom and cable company Charter Communications both fell on reports that contract negotiations between them are stalling. That could result Viacom channels like MTV and Nickelodeon temporarily going off the air for subscribers to Charter’s New York-area Spectrum service. Viacom dropped $1.66, or 6.6 percent, to $23.55 and Charter gave up $8.43, or 2.3 percent, to $356.69.