Red Results

Indices closed well into red territory Thursday. Bank of America, Alcoa, Boeing and General Electric led Dow decliners. Stocks traded lower amid a global sell off brought on by increasing growth concerns and less-than-stellar economic data. News of dipping Japanese exports and weaker-than-expected July retail sales in Britain impacted action today on Wall Street. On another note, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims climbed by 9,000 to 408,000 last week. A separate report showed that consumer prices increased by 0.5% in July, following a 0.2% drop in June. The reading exceeded expectations of 0.2% growth. The core measure, which discounts food and energy prices, grew 0.2%, as anticipated, after an upswing of 0.3% in June. Elsewhere, the National Association of Realtors said existing-home sales unexpectedly fell 3.5% in July, to 4.67 million from 4.96 million in June. Economists had expected sales to rise to 4.87 million.

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