Retail Sales Sag, Oil Hits Trading High And Stocks End Mixed

NEW YORK, May 13 -- Wall Street turned in a mixed performance Tuesday after a fresh report on retail sales and a new oil price record told investors the same old story: The economy is hurting and costs are rising, but things could be worse.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 44.13, or 0.34 percent, to 12,832.18, having advanced 130 points Monday. Broader indicators closed mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 0.54, or 0.04 percent, to 1403.04, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 6.63, or 0.27 percent, to 2495.12.

The Commerce Department's latest report showed that retail sales fell by 0.2 percent in April, as expected. The data did show better-than-expected sales if automobiles are excluded but indicated that Americans are reluctant to make big-ticket purchases, especially as soaring fuel prices cut into demand.

The Commerce Department also reported that businesses added to their inventories in March by the smallest amount in a year. Inventories edged up a tiny 0.1 percent in March, the smallest advance since they were flat in March 2007.

Oil prices, meanwhile, spiked to a trading record of $126.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after Iranian news services reported that Iran is considering a cut to output. Prices later settled up $1.57 at $125.80.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq got a boost from Yahoo, which rose after reports that billionaire investor Carl Icahn was considering a proxy fight to try to push the Internet firm back into merger discussions with Microsoft.

In corporate news, investors examined a number of acquisitions, including Hewlett-Packard's offer to buy Electronic Data Systems for $12.6 billion. A combination of Hewlett-Packard and EDS would create the second-largest technology services provider behind IBM.

Office supply retailer Staples raised its hostile bid to acquire Dutch rival Corporate Express by 10 percent. Corporate Express said it was willing to consider the deal.

Movers

Yahoo rose $1.30, to $26.56.

EDS added 26 cents, to $24.34.

Hewlett-Packard fell $2.56, to $44.27.

Staples rose 48 cents, to $22.44.

Wal-Mart fell $1.37, to $56.65.