Stocks fell back from early gains on the weak US retail sales and consumer sentiment reports. The S&P 500 Index is down 0.05%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 0.15%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index is down 0.06%. July US retail sales fell 0.6% month-over-month, much weaker than expectations of a 0.1% gain, while the University of Michigan's preliminary August consumer sentiment index dropped 4.2 points to 51.0. The weak data reduced the odds of a September Fed rate hike to 29% from 35% but also raised concerns about a weaker US economy and corporate earnings. The 10-year T-note yield rose 3.2 basis points to 4.674% despite the soft reports, as inflation worries persisted.
