US stocks drop as retailers hit by weak consumer data

Retail stocks were hit hard on Wall Street Friday after weak consumer spending data, pulling US shares lower for a second straight session.

Dow member Wal-Mart, Costco, Target and Macy's each lost more than two percent after US data showed Americans are keeping tight hold of their wallets.

The large retailers all dived after the Commerce Department reported that US consumers spent just 0.1 percent more in March than in February, despite enjoying higher incomes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.3 percent at 17,773.64.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.5 percent to 2,065.30, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.6 percent to 4,775.36.

Analysts also said investors are worried about lofty stock valuations in light of a generally lackluster earnings season and economic data.

Amazon surged 9.6 percent after reporting a swing into profit from a year ago for the first quarter to $513 million, racking up a fourth consecutive profitable quarter.

Other earnings standouts included Expedia, which rose 8.2 percent; LinkedIn, up 1.9 percent; and Monster Beverage, up 12.8 percent.

But the market hammered most biotech stocks after Gilead Sciences reported a 17.7 percent drop in first-quarter net income to $3.6 billion as sales for its lucrative hepatitis C treatment Sovaldi lagged expectations.

Gilead plunged 9.1 percent, while rivals Celgene and Biogen lost 4.3 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.

But another biotech company, Medivation, rose 2.9 percent after turning down an unsolicited $9.3 billion bid from French pharma giant Sanofi. US shares of Sanofi, which vowed to take its hostile offer to shareholders, fell 4.1 percent.

US oil giant ExxonMobil rose 0.4 percent after reporting better-than-expected first-quarter earnings of $1.8 billion. But rival Chevron fell 0.2 percent after reporting a surprisingly big loss of $725 million.