STOCKS FALL, GOLD DIVES INTO A BEAR MARKET: Here's What You Need To Know

thenews 2013.04.12 19:26

Stocks saw a modest sell-off in the wake of some bad economic data. Gold, on the other hand, got destroyed.

First the scoreboard:

Dow: 14,865, -0.0 pts, -0.0%
S&P 500: 1,588, -4.5 pts, -0.2%

NASDAQ: 3,294, -5.2 pts, -0.1%

And now the top stories:

Retail sales unexpectedly fell 0.4 percent in March, which was worse than the unchanged level expected by economists. Excluding autos and gas, sales fell 0.1%. Economists were looking for a gain of 0.3%.
Consumer confidence, which was also expected to be unchanged, unexpectedly fell to 72.3 from 78.6.
Stocks started in deeper in the red, but managed to recover much of their losses. Still, given the disappointing economic data, some wonder if we're headed for another spring swoon in the markets and the economy.