Shares of retailers and other consumer companies fell after mixed earnings and economic reports.
New weekly unemployment claims ticked down but remained elevated at 881,000 last week, the Labor Department reported.
After cautionary reports from the Automatic Data Processing private-employer survey and the previous week's jobless claims tally, investors are positioning for a weak August jobs report Friday. "There's nervousness about the employment report, and people want to head for hills for the weekend as of today," said Joe Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade.
"The survey was taken the same week as the highest [weekly jobless] reading in a while so people are already taking that into consideration a little."
Campbell Soup said demand for its soups and other packaged foods is moderating after a months-long surge fueled by consumers eating at home during the pandemic, which drove fiscal fourth-quarter same-store sales up 12%, adding to the 17% increase a quarter earlier.
A hedge fund manager was charged with fraud for trying to suppress bidding for a piece of bankrupt luxury retailer Neiman Marcus Group. Dan Kamensky, the founder of Marble Ridge Capital, was arrested and charged by New York prosecutors with securities fraud, wire fraud, extortion and obstruction of justice in connection with his efforts to acquire shares in Neiman's MyTheresa e-commerce business.
E-cigarette maker Juul Labs said it's planning another significant round of layoffs and considering halting sales across Europe and Asia.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
