Stocks fall at midday on weak spending report

8/30/2013

NEW YORK  — The stock market is drifting lower in midday trading after disappointing news about consumer spending.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 49 points to 14,791 shortly before 12 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time today. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down five points to 1,632. The Nasdaq composite fell 27 points to 3,592.

The Commerce Department said today that U.S. consumers barely increased their spending in July after their income grew more slowly.

The stock price of Salesforce.com jumped to an all-time high after the cloud computing company reported strong quarterly results and raised its sales forecast late Thursday. Salesforce.com was up $6.07, or 14 percent, to $49.73 at midday, the biggest increase in the S&P 500.

The markets will be closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday.