-- Wednesday, August 15, 2018, 9:56 --
U.S. stocks open lower on Wednesday, with investors weighing the impact of Turkey’s currency crisis as well as the escalating tariff tensions between the United States and its trading partners. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 217.24 points, or 0.86%, to 25,082.68. The S&P 500 declined 23.17 points, or 0.82%, to 2,816.79. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 65.76 points, or 0.84%, to 7,805.14.
Oil futures traded lower Wednesday ahead of official data on U.S. crude stocks. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery fell 76 cents, or 1.1% to $66.28 a barrel. October Brent crude dropped 71 cents, or 1%, to $71.75 a barrel.
Productivity gains in the U.S. accelerated by more than expected to the fastest pace since 2015 while labor costs fell, amid an economic-growth pickup supported by tax cuts and federal spending, a Labor Department report showed Wednesday. Measure of nonfarm business employee output per hour increased at 2.9% annualized rate.
Retail sales rose at a 0.5 percent annual rate in July, after a 0.2 percent increase the previous month, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.Retail sales have increased 6.4% over the past 12 months, close to the long-run average since 1980.
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