The U.S. Census Bureau announced that the combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for January, adjusted for seasonal and trading-day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $1,296.2 billion, down 0.4% from December 2015 and down 1.1% from January 2015.  

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for February, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $447.3 billion, a decrease of 0.1% from the previous month, and 3.1% above February 2015. Total sales for the December 2015 through February 2016 period were up 2.9% from the same period a year ago.  Retail trade sales were down 0.3% from January, and up 2.7% from last year. Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers were up 12.2 from February 2015, while gasoline stations were down 15.6% from last year.

U.S. stock indices ended mostly lower, led by a steep decline in drug company shares, according to the Associated Press. The Dow was up 22.40 points (0.13%) at 17,251.53, while the NASDAQ closed 21.61 points (0.45%) lower at 4,728.67, and the S&P 500 was down 3.71 points (0.18%) at 2,015.93. The Russell 2000 lost 17.58 points (1.62%) to finish at 1,066.66, and the Wilshire 5000 decreased 62.68 points (0.30%) to 20,595.97.

On the NYSE, 3.2 billion shares traded, with a near 3 to 1 lead for decliners. On the NASDAQ, 2.9 billion shares changed hands, with declining issues outnumbering advancing issues more than 3 to 1.

ON THIS DATE: In 1802, the U.S. Congress established the West Point Military Academy in New York. In 1850, the novel “The Scarlet Letter,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was published. In 1882, the U.S. Senate approved a treaty allowing the United States to join the Red Cross. In 1915, the Federal Trade Commission began operation. In 1945, Iwo Jima was declared secure by the Allies. In 1964, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson submitted a $1 billion war on poverty program to Congress. In 1968, U.S. troops in Vietnam destroyed a village consisting mostly of women and children. The event is known as the My-Lai massacre. In 1984, William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, was kidnapped by gunmen. He died while in captivity. In 1985, Terry Anderson, an Associated Press newsman, was taken hostage in Beirut. In 1994, Tonya Harding pled guilty in Portland, Oregon, to conspiracy to hinder prosecution for covering up the attack on her skating rival Nancy Kerrigan. She was fined $100,000. She was also banned from amateur figure skating. In 1995, NASA astronaut Norman Thagard became the first American to visit the Russian space station Mir.