Thursday

Stocks declined today as materials shares lagged in the wake of disappointing economic data, but successful bond auctions in Spain and Italy helped shore up sentiment. Merck was among the worst performers, taking 19 points off the Dow. The drug maker sank 6.6% after its researchers halted one of two major studies of its experimental anticlotting drug and made significant changes to the other. Materials declined as metals prices weakened following U.S. economic data that largely missed investors' expectations. DJIA -23.54 Nasdaq -2.04 S&P 500 -2.20.