Wall Street Dips As Strong Retail Data Boosts Treasury Yields

• Wall Street lost ground on Thursday as unexpectedly robust retail sales data underscored the strength of the U.S. economic recovery, boosting bond yields and prompting a sell-off in market-leading tech stocks. 
• All three major U.S. stock indexes reversed the previous session's rally as rising Treasury yields provided an increasingly attractive alternative to stocks, and the dollar's advance put pressure on U.S. exporters. 
• "We're at a point where sentiment is weighing on the market more than decent data is helping it," said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird in Louisville, Kentucky. "It's the opposite of the melt-up we saw earlier in the summer." 
• Eight of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500 were lower, with materials suffering the largest percentage drop. Energy stocks tumbled after crude prices retreated from the previous session's surge as threats to the Gulf of Mexico from Hurricane Nicholas abated.

(Source: Reuters)