U.S. stocks extend losses on soft data

U.S. stocks retreated further in the morning session Friday, as investors meditated on a batch of generally downbeat economic reports.

By midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 105.29 points, or 0.60 percent, to 17,342.78. The S&P 500 decreased 10.59 points, or 0.52 percent, to 2,035.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 37.84 points, or 0.76 percent, to 4,967.24.

The U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand decreased 0.4 percent in October, seasonally adjusted, missing market consensus of a 0.2-percent gain, the Labor Department reported Friday.

On an unadjusted basis, the final demand index fell 1.6 percent for the 12 months ended in October, a record 12-month decline for this index, which was introduced in November 2009.

Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for October increased 0.1 percent from the previous month to 447.3 billion U.S. dollars, also below market expectations, said the U.S. Commerce Department Friday.

Total sales for the August 2015 through October 2015 period were up 2.0 percent from the same period a year ago.

"Retail sales excluding the impact of gasoline sales have failed to rise meaningfully for the last three months, even as lower energy costs should leave more dollars in consumer hands," said Jay Morelock, an economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

Meanwhile, the preliminary reading of consumer sentiment index published by Thomson Reuters/ University of Michigan came in at 93.1 for November, above market estimates of 92.0.

On Thursday, U.S. stocks suffered big losses as worries about a year-end rate hike and a plunge in oil prices weighed on market sentiments. Endit