HispanicBusiness

U.S. stock indexes were down in early Wednesday trading despite a 1.1 percent rise in U.S. retail sales in February from January.

The U.S. Commerce Department said retail sales rose month with gains beating expectations, which predicted a 0.5 percent increase.

Analysts are pondering the standard question of how long a winning streak can last, assuming markets are due for a reality check and possibly a correction, which is defined as a 10 percent drop from a recent peak.

The recent peak isn't hard to find. The Dow Jones industrial average Tuesday set its sixth consecutive closing high record at 14,450.06 points.

In midmorning trading Wednesday, the DJIA gave up 28.52 points or 0.2 percent, to 14,421.54. The Standard and Poor's 500 index shed 3.51 points or 0.23 percent to 1,548.97. The Nasdaq composite dropped 8.34 points or 0.26 percent to 3,233.98.

The 10-year U.S. treasury bonds fell 5/32 to yield 2.037 percent.

Against the dollar, the euro fell to $1.2939 from Tuesday's $1.3033. Against the yen, the dollar was higher at 96.18 yen from 96.09 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 shed 0.61 percent, 75.15 points to 12,239.66.