国际英语新闻：Wall Street trades mixed after three-day rally

NEW YORK, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street traded mixed on Tuesday after a three-day rally as investors digested retail sales figures and possible weakness in Europe.

The Commerce Department said that retail sales rose 0.3 percent in August, slightly higher than analysts had expected. Excluding volatile autos, purchases climbed 0.6 percent, which doubled market expectations and was the biggest jump since March.

"Most Americans are in a much better financial position than a year ago, but they are still spending cautiously, looking for bargains and comparing prices before buying," the National Retail Federation (NRF) CEO Matthew Shay said in a release.

The challenge will be convincing consumers "that the recession is over and to buy accordingly," NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said in the release.

Major indexes retreated after a closely-watched German investor confidence index fell sharply in September.

The market regained upward momentum after a report showed business inventories in the United States jumped in July by their largest amount in two years and business sales rebounded after two months of declines, an encouraging sign that consumer demand is rising.

Shares of Best Buy Co. jumped 6 percent after the electronics retailer said its second-quarter net income jump 60 percent. The company expects full year revenue to grow 5 percent to 52 billion U.S. dollars.

Financial stocks retreated on Tuesday after Monday's rally. JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said Tuesday that new capital rules are expected to increase bank loan prices for customers and may drive some to seek financing from non-bank financial institutions.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 17.62, or 0.17 percent, to 10,526.49. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.80 points, or 0.07 percent, to 1,121.10 and the Nasdaq was up 4.06 points, or 0. 18 percent, to 2,289.77.