U.S. Stocks Extend Drop in Final Hour Amid Retail Data

 U.S. stocks fell, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index extending declines in the final hour of trading, amid data showed manufacturing unexpectedly climbed last month and reports on holiday retail sales.

Urban Outfitters Inc. lost 3.5 percent as retail spending fell on the weekend after Thanksgiving for the first time since 2009. EBay Inc. climbed 1.6 percent as a report showed online spending on Black Friday rose to a record. Newmont Mining Corp., the world’s second-largest gold producer, slipped 4 percent as the precious metal’s price declined. 3M Co. lost 4.4 percent after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.3 percent to 1,800.90 at 4 p.m. in New York, after earlier rising as much as 0.2 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 77.64 points, or 0.5 percent, to 16,008.77. About 5.8 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, 4.8 percent below the three-month average.

It was the second time in two days that U.S. equities tumbled in the final hour. The benchmark index lost 0.5 percent to 1,803.98 over 20 minutes just before the close on Nov. 29, when stocks traded in an abbreviated session. Today’s drop took it down 0.4 percent to 1,798.73 between 3:24 p.m. and 3:53 p.m.

 (Source: Bloomberg)