Stocks slide again in light trading

Investors back a Trump adviser’s companies and shy away from retailers and e-commerce Alibaba.

Retailers took losses Thursday and pulled U.S. stocks lower in another day of mild trading before the holidays.

Bed Bath & Beyond was pummeled after the home goods retailer reported weak results, and investors also dumped companies like Target, Staples and Dollar Tree. Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba fell after it was sanctioned by the U.S. government, while companies linked to investor Carl Icahn climbed after the billionaire was named as a future adviser to presidentelect Donald Trump.

Quincy Krosby, a markets strategist for Prudential Financial, said investors were concerned about the weak earnings for Bed Bath & Beyond and about the jump in interest rates since the election.

“When you have interest rates rising, at least initially, it tends to take a little bit from the discretionary (companies) because credit card payments move higher,” she said.

The Dow Jones industrial average shed 23.08 points, or 0.1 percent, to 19,918.88. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 4.22 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,260.96. The Nasdaq composite dipped 24.01 points, or 0.4 percent, to 5,447.42. The Russell 2000 index of small-company stocks sank 12.53 points, or 0.9 percent, to 1,362.66. Pre-holiday trading remained light. Several companies linked to Icahn surged. Icahn Enterprises rose $4.38, or 7.6 percent, to $62.30 and refining company CVR Energy added $2.25, or 10.5 percent, to $23.69. Icahn owns 82 percent of the voting power in CVR Energy. Icahn Enterprises has climbed 30 percent since the presidential election, and CVR Energy has climbed 85 percent.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, the world’s largest generic drug maker, rose after it agreed to settle an investigation into possible bribes paid to foreign governments. The stock added 54 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $36.91.

Benchmark U.S. crude gained 46 cents to $52.95 a barrel in New York and Brent crude, the international standard, rose 59 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $55.05 a barrel in London.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note climbed to 2.55 percent from 2.54 percent. The dollar inched up to 117.60 yen from 117.54 yen. The euro rose to $1.0433 from $1.0427.