Stocks head for lower start ahead of sales report

[August 13, 2010]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks appear headed for their fourth straight day of losses as investors wait for the latest readings on consumers and how confident they feel about spending.

The Commerce Department will release its report on July retail sales before the market opens. Economists are expecting that sales rose 0.5 percent after dropping in June. The report is due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. Last week, retailers reported sales for the month that were modest overall.

Later in the morning, the University of Michigan/Reuters survey of consumer sentiment in August will be released.

Stocks have been falling as investors' take on the economic recovery grows more and more pessimistic.

Dow Jones industrial average futures are down 12, or 0.1 percent, at 10,259. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures are down 2.40, or 0.2 percent, at 1,076.80. Nasdaq 100 futures are down 6.25, or 0.3 percent, at 1,821.00

[Associated Press; By JOYCE M. ROSENBERG]

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