The three major US stock indexes registered declines at the opening of trading today, Thursday, May 15. The S&P 500 index lost ground after three consecutive sessions of gains, coinciding with negative US economic data. Companies continue to report their first-quarter results.
In economic data, data released by the US Census Bureau showed a rise in US retail sales in April, exceeding market expectations. Sales rose to $724.1 billion, a 0.1% increase compared to March’s reading of 1.4%, and a 5.2% year-over-year increase.
Conversely, the US Department of Labor announced that initial claims for state unemployment benefits remained unchanged for the week ending May 10 at 229,000, matching expectations.
The Producer Price Index, the complementary measure of inflation, fell to 0.5% in April, its first decline since October 2023 and the largest in five years. Prices rose 2.4% year-over-year, down from 3.4% in March. The core index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, fell 0.4% in April and rose 3.1% year-over-year.
Manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area, according to the May Manufacturing Business Expectations Survey, continued to decline. The index fell to -4.0 from -26.4 in April, significantly reducing its negative reading in April, but remaining in negative territory for the second month.
The Bayer State Manufacturing Survey, which tracks manufacturing activity in New York state and was released today, showed a decline of approximately -9.2 points in May, compared to -8.1 in April, marking the third consecutive monthly decline. The S&P 500 index’s sectors traded mixed, with the energy sector leading the declines, down 1.11%. The telecommunications sector rose 0.12%, the financial sector rose 0.18%, the technology sector declined 0.34%, the healthcare sector declined 0.75%, and the utilities sector rose 90.74%.

Regarding quarterly earnings announcements, American retailer Walmart reported first-quarter revenues that exceeded expectations by 2.5%, reaching $165.6 billion, compared to expectations of $166.02 billion. Adjusted earnings per share rose 1.7% year-over-year to $0.61, exceeding estimates. The stock is trading down 4.64% after the company stated that it may be forced to raise prices due to tariffs. UnitedHealth shares are trading down 14% after the Wall Street Journal reported that the US Department of Justice is conducting a criminal investigation into the company for possible Medicare fraud.
Alibaba shares are also trading down 7% after lower-than-expected first-quarter results. The company reported net income of 12.4 billion yuan in the first quarter, compared to expectations of 24.7 billion yuan, as the company was impacted by consumer spending in China and the impact of tariffs.
For his part, US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated in his speech in Washington that the United States may enter a period of recurrent supply shocks and inflation volatility, which requires the central bank to adopt more transparent communication practices. He added that higher interest rates, with inflation in mind, may reflect the possibility of more volatile inflation in the future. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow) is trading down by about (209) points at 41,838, with losses of about 0.53%, while the S&P 500 Index (S&P500) is recording losses of 16 points at 5,875, with a decline of about 0.27%, and the Nasdaq Index (Nasdaq) is declining by (155 points) at 18,991, with losses of about 0.81%.