Stocks retreat from record highs; retailers, banks decline

U.S. stock indexes retreated from their record highs Thursday as retailers and media companies declined and investors shrugged at quarterly reports from a few big banks.

Clothing companies and other retailers fell after women’s clothing company J. Jill slashed its third-quarter forecast. The company’s stock lost more than half its value.

JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup both did better than analysts expected in the third quarter, but their stocks fell and so did shares of other banks. They’ve made big gains over the last month.

CFRA Investment Strategist Lindsey Bell said the companies reported good results from their consumer banking businesses, but other divisions didn’t do as well.

“The bar was set kind of high,” she said. “Given the run that these stocks have had into these earnings reports, they’re going to need to see these other businesses pick up steam.”

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 0.17 percent to 2,550.93. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 31.88 points to 22,841.01. The Nasdaq composite dipped 0.18 percent to 6,591.51. Those three indexes closed at record highs Wednesday. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks slumped 0.12 percent, to 1,505.16.

More stocks rose than fell on the New York Stock Exchange. — AP