* Cisco, Kohl's executives cautious about economy
* Jobless claims fall slightly less than expected
* Whole Foods' stock rises after results, Sony down
* Dow off 1.1 pct, S&P off 1.2 pct, Nasdaq off 1.3 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news see []
(Updates to close)
By Edward Krudy
NEW YORK, May 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Thursday
as downbeat comments on the economy from tech company Cisco
Systems Inc <CSCO.O> and retail chain Kohl's Corp <KSS.N> cast
doubt on the strength of the U.S. recovery.
Cisco's warnings about a still weak labor market and
Kohl's saying it was unconvinced a recovery was at hand
underscored the downbeat mood among investors alreadly rattled
by fears of sovereign debt defaults in the euro zone. Cisco
shares fell 4.5 percent to $25.53 and Kohl's lost 5.8 percent
to $53.81.
In addition, a report showed the number of U.S. workers
filing for jobless benefits fell only slightly last week,
which failed to back up sharply improving monthly payrolls
data and suggested the unemployment rate will remain high.
[]
Tom Alexander, head of Alexander Trading in Savannah,
Georgia, said retail stocks are highly leveraged to a recovery
and sensitive to suggestions of economic weakness.
"That's going to be an area of the economy that's always
brought into question if they start questioning the recovery,"
he said.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> dropped 113.96
points, or 1.05 percent, to 10,782.95. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> fell 14.23 points, or 1.21 percent, to
1,157.44. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> lost 30.66
points, or 1.26 percent, to 2,394.36.
1186.69 on Friday April 30 vs 1110.88 close on Friday May
7th through close on Wed. May 12th - 1171.67
The S&P 500 gained 5.47 percent in the first three days of
the week -- its biggest three-day run since July 2009. That
was after last week's drop of 6.4 percent.
The S&P retail index <.RLX> fell 3 percent. Investors were
cautious ahead of April retail sales data on Friday following
last week's poor same-store sales data for the same month.
Home builders' shares also fell sharply on concerns over
the sector's prospects now that a government tax credit for
home buyers has expired. KB Home <KBH.N> was the biggest
decliner, falling 6.8 percent to $16.53. The Dow Jones index
of home builders' shares <.DJUSHB> fell 4 percent.
Helping to limit the Dow's decline was U.S. aluminum
producer Alcoa Inc <AA.N>, whose stock rose 2.7 percent to
$12.80 on expectations the metal's price could rise if higher
Chinese electricity prices cut the global supply of aluminum.
Century Aluminum <CENX.O> rose 5.1 percent to $12.69.
[]
Tech stocks stayed in focus after German software company
SAP AG <SAPG.DE><SAP.N> agreed to buy smaller U.S. rival
Sybase Inc <SY.N> for $5.8 billion. Sybase jumped 14.4 percent
to $64.22, while the U.S.-listed shares of SAP fell 0.8
percent to $44.54.
"This M&A activity is encouraging because it's being done
on the merit of the deal, not simply because they have excess
borrowing power," said Rob Stein, managing partner of Astor
Asset Management in Chicago.
On the earnings front, Whole Foods Market Inc <WFMI.O>
jumped 5.6 percent to $42.50, boosting consumer stocks after
its quarterly profit topped estimates and it raised its
full-year forecasts.[]
U.S.-listed shares of Sony Corp <SNE.N> fell 5.1 percent
to $31.53 after it forecast a full-year operating profit that
was below expectations. []
About 8.85 billion shares traded on the New York Stock
Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, below last
year's estimated daily average of 9.65 billion.
Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New
York Stock Exchange by a ratio of about 2 to 1. On the Nasdaq,
more than eight stocks fell for nearly every five that rose.
(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Jan Paschal)
