Market posts first down week in a month

NEW YORK — Shares of department stores sank again Friday, hurt by more evidence that shoppers are turning away from them. A drop in Treasury yields also put pressure on bank stocks, and the weakness helped pull the Standard & Poor’s 500 index to its first weekly loss in the past four.

The S&P 500 dipped 3.54 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 2,390.90, part of a 0.3 percent loss for the week. The index is still within half a percent of its record, though, and the market continues to make only modest moves through what’s become a weekslong, peaceful lull.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 22.81 points, or 0.1 percent, to 20,896.61, and the Nasdaq composite rose 5.27 points, or 0.1 percent, to 6,121.23. Small-company stocks fell more than the rest of the market. The Russell 2000 index lost 7.43 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,382.77.

The biggest loss in the S&P 500 came from Nordstrom, which plunged $5.01, or 10.8 percent, to $41.20 after it said a key sales figure weakened last quarter by more than analysts expected. Nordstrom joined a long list of other department-store chains that have reported discouraging results recently, as their customers increasingly head online.

J.C. Penney fell 74 cents, or 14 percent, to $4.55 after closing.

The broader market, though, was much more pacific. It was the 13th straight day that the S&P 500 moved by less than 0.5 percent, the longest such streak since 1995.