Wall St. flattens out
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August 14, 2001: 11:12 a.m. ET
Early enthusiasm over retail sales figure fades, leaves markets mixed
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - U.S. stock investors went to the return counter with Tuesday morning's early gains, leaving the major indexes flat as a report showing better-than-expected July retail sales failed to maintain enthusiasm.
The government report showed no change in sales on a month-to-month basis, better than the 0.2 percent decline economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected. But the June figure was revised to unchanged from the previously reported 0.2 percent increase.
There was also a mixed picture in the quarterly results from two key retailers. Home improvement retailer Home Depot (HD: up $1.61 to $49.71, Research, Estimates) reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings, while Wal-Mart Stores (WMT: up $0.22 to $52.42, Research, Estimates) -- in posting earnings that were in line with expectations -- warned that its fiscal third quarter will be weaker than previously thought.
At 11:05 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average was straddling the breakeven point, up 1.87 to 10,417.36. The Nasdaq composite index gained 1.18 to 1,983.43; it touched negative territory briefly after being up as much as 16 points.
The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 0.03 to 1,191.32.
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