Wall Street closes lower as retail firms' shares fall

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK

Wall Street closed lower Thursday on a decline in shares of retail companies.

The Dow fell 23 points to end trading at 20,919, closing with losses for the third consecutive day.

The S&P decreased five points to 2,394 and the Nasdaq declined 13 points to 6,115.

Retail giant Macy's shares plummeted 17 percent after its first quarter sales and earnings came short of market expectations.

Another major retail company, Target, saw its stock price decrease by 4 percent.

Investors will closely watch retail sales data for April to be announced Friday by the Department of Commerce.