US stocks slip after unemployment claims rise; tech slumps

That follows a wave of consolidation in the chemicals industry: DuPont and Dow Chemical agreed to combine a year ago, and ChemChina agreed to buy Syngenta of Switzerland in March.

Bayer fell 4.8 per cent after Bloomberg reported the German group was exploring a bid for Monsanto. Department store companies continued to report plunging first-quarter sales, but the government reported that overall retail sales improved in April. The company’s results suffered as it discounted some items to clear out inventory. Automaker BMW stocks lost 3.4%, the insurance sector fell 1.7% on weak corporate earnings data. A reading of monthly retail sales is due Friday. Macy’s slashed its profit forecast Wednesday following its quarterly report, and Gap posted worse-than-expected April sales on Monday. Nordstrom fell $1.27, or 2.8 percent, to $44.15 and Macy’s lost another 49 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $30.89.

Restaurant chain Jack in the Box surged 15.2 percent after reporting that second-quarter net income rose 24.7 percent to $26.7 million. Its stock slid $2.42, or 2.6 percent, to $90.09.

Stocks turned lower in afternoon trading Friday despite a bigger-than-expected increase in retail sales.

Its stock tumbled $3.31, or 43.2 percent, to $4.35. The company’s IPO priced at $10 per share in October. OIL GAINS: U.S. crude inched higher.

Exxon Mobile and Chevron shares both climbed 1%, while the price of a barrel of USA crude rose by 0.6% to $46.51. The group of major oil-producing countries expects cuts to USA production and reduced investments from energy giants will help to rebalance a supply glut this year. The International Energy Agency said that higher than expected Iranian oil production has helped stabilize the global oil market by offsetting concerns generated by wildfires in Canada and violence in Nigeria.

USA crude oil futures for June delivery declined 70 cents to $46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Rousseff’s cabinet was also dismissed. It’s up more than 20 percent this year.

The 10-year Treasury yield is down two basis points to 1.75%, gold is down 0.6%, and oil is up another 1.2% to $46.78 per barrel.

In Asia, Chinese benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged down 0.04 percent to close at 2,835.86 points. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.1 percent.

OVERSEAS: Germany’s DAX fell 1.3 percent and the FTSE 100 in Britain was down 1.1 percent.

The dollar was up 0.5% against the yen at ¥108.8640 after a summary of opinions from the Bank of Japan’s April meeting showed officials thought it would be wise to examine the effects of its negative interest-rate policy, but should be ready to ease policy further if risks materialize.

The US currency moved higher versus the euro, with the EUR/USD pair falling 0.5% to 1.1374.