Stocks edge lower following retail earnings

11/19/2013

NEW YORK — Stocks are mostly lower on Wall Street as investors pick over another round of corporate earnings, this time from retailers including Best Buy and Home Depot.

The Dow Jones industrial average was moving between small gains and losses. It was down seven points at 15,969 as of noon Eastern time today.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 was down two points at 1,789 and the Nasdaq composite was down three at 3,945.

Retailers were a key focus for investors, especially with the holiday shopping season coming up.

Best Buy slumped 9 percent after warning that competition from online retailers was going to further squeeze its profit margins.

Home Depot rose 2 percent, the most in the Dow, after reporting earnings that surpassed what investors were expecting.