Light Trading Leaves Most ETFs Flat

Earnings season got off to a tepid start Thursday, with weak sales reports from retailers putting a damper on stocks and exchange-traded funds, few of which saw significant trading volume.

Same-store sales results for June were disappointing but unsurprising. More retailers reported sales declines than advances for the last month. From Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) to Zumiez (ZUMZ), sales notched double-digit drops. Wal-Mart (WMT) stopped offering monthly sales figures, leaving Target (TGT) as the largest retailer to report them. It posted a 6.2% same-store sales drop.

Aluminum giant Alcoa (AA) offered some upside by posting better-than-expected results as a kickoff to second-quarter earnings reports. The company posted a loss of 26 cents a share, better than the Street consensus estimate of 38 cents a share. Alcoa is traditionally seen as an economic bellwether and an indicator for second-quarter releases to come.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 35 points to 8213, while the Nasdaq rose 15 points to 1762 and the S&P 500 was up 8 points at 887. For a detailed rundown on Thursday’s trading session see our market story.

The SPDR KBW Bank (KBE) was once again in the center of the action, rising 2% after financial stocks gained some momentum in afternoon trading following an upgrade of Goldman Sachs (GS). A boost to natural gas prices made the United States Natural Gas fund (UNG) a winner, pushing shares 2% higher.

The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index (IYR) shed 1.6% as property stocks ebbed on ongoing concerns about credit and commercial lending. Investors backed off government debt, sending the iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond fund (TLT) 1.2% lower.

Earnings and Conference Calls
Infosys Technologies, PriceSmart, Progressive

Economic Data
10:00 a.m. May Trade Balance
10:00 a.m. June Import Prices
10:00 a.m. Mid-July Reuters/U. Michigan Sentiment Index

A look at how the industry's most popular ETFs did on Thursday: