South Korea Financial Markets

U.S. stocks edged back from their all-time high following the latest economic report to come in surprisingly weak. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% Friday from its record set the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%. Stocks gave up modest gains from the morning after oil prices swung higher. Also raising uncertainty was a report showing shoppers spent less at U.S. retailers last month. Such data could keep interest rates low, which is something Wall Street loves, but it also raises the risk of slowing economic growth when inflation is still high.