Stocks slide on gloom over retail results

The stock market fell on Wednesday as a poor earnings report from Macy's cast doubt on the outlook for consumer spending, a vital component of the U.S. economy.

Other department store stocks also fell after Macy's reported disappointing earnings for the second quarter and cut its forecast for the year.

At the close on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 113.35 points ending at 15,337.66 The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 0.52 percent at 1,685.39. The index is up just 0.1 percent for the month. In July it jumped 5 percent. The Nasdaq composite was off 0.41 percent at 3,669.27.

The stock market's early summer rally has fizzled out after a strong July, and August is shaping up to be lackluster as many traders and investors take their summer breaks. The major indexes have drifted lower in the past week after climbing to all-time highs at the start of the month.

Apple rose above $500 for the first time since January, but slipped back for the close. It gained $8.93 to $498.50. The company's stock jumped 4.75 percent Tuesday after activist investor Carl Icahn said he thought Apple should be doing more to revive its stock price. Icahn also said he had a large, but unspecified stake, in the company.