The US stock market fell despite the strengthening of retail

Most US stock indices weakened on Wednesday. The market fell despite a Department of Commerce report that U.S. retail sales rose 5.3 percent month-on-month in January, the strongest growth since June. The losses of technology and industrial companies outweighed the profits of other parts of the market. However, the Dow Jones industrial index strengthened, largely due to growth in shares of Verizon Communications and Chevron. The value of the shares of these companies rose after the conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway announced that it had invested heavily in them in the second half of last year. The S&P 500 index fell by less than 0.1 percent to 3,931.33 points. The technology Nasdaq weakened 0.6 percent to 13,965.49 points, and the Russell 2000 smaller company index lost 0.7 percent to close at 2,256.11 points. However, the Dow Jones industrial index strengthened by 0.3 percent to 31,613.02 points. The Asian stock market failed on Thursday, responding to mixed results on Wall Street. China's Shanghai Composite Index rose slightly by 0.55 percent after resuming trading after the Lunar New Year holidays. However, the markets in Tokyo and Hong Kong weakened. Tokyo's main Nikkei 225 index fell 0.2 percent to 30,236.09 points and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.41 percent.