NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks retreated early Thursday following a deluge of US economic data, including a modest upgrade to the estimate for third-quarter economic growth.
The Commerce Department estimated third-quarter economic growth at 3.5 percent, slightly better than the prior estimate of 3.2 percent. Other data showed a drop in durable goods orders in November and jobless claims rose.
Early trade followed the trend from Wednesday, when Wall Street equities declined modestly amid below-average volume ahead of the holiday weekend.
Fifteen minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 19,910.03, down 0.2 percent and slipping further from its quest to hit 20,000 points.
The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.2 percent to 2,259.66, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.3 percent at 5,454.19.
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba dropped 2.5 percent after the United States Trade Representative said one of Alibaba's platforms, Taobao.com, was selling a large number of pirated and counterfeit goods.
Alibaba criticized the decision, saying the USTR's move ignores the Chinese company's efforts to police goods and may be due to the "current political climate" more than reality.
Chip company Micron Technology jumped 12.1 percent after reporting that first quarter net income was $180 million, compared to a loss of $170 million from the year-ago period. Executives also gave a bullish outlook on the sector.
Bed Bath & Beyond slumped 5.0 percent as it reported a 29 percent drop in third-quarter net income to $126.4 million behind lower comparable-store sales.
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