NEW YORK — US stocks closed with losses for the fourth consecutive day on Friday as government data showing lower than expected retail sales and subdued inflation rekindled recovery fears.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 16.80 points (0.16 per cent) to 10,303.15 despite earlier modest gains.

The tech-rich Nasdaq composite index lost 16.79 points (0.77 per cent) to 2,173.48 while the broader S&P 500 index fell 4.36 points (0.40 per cent) at 1,079.25.

Friday’s trade locked the worst week for Wall Street in over a month, with the Dow Jones losing 3.29 per cent and the Nasdaq more than five per cent.

In what was one of the slowest trade days of the year, stocks on the main indexes hovered around the flatline from the opening.

“Nothing is really happening, the market is really quiet… It is a flat day in August, the volume is extremely light,” said analyst Peter Cardillo of Avalon Partners.

“Economic news were basically in line, but the retail sales have ignited fears about consumer spending,” he said.

Data released by the Commerce Department before the opening bell showed a 0.4 per cent rise in retail sales in July after two months of declines.

The figure, however, was slightly below the 0.5 per cent rise expected by most analysts.

Consumer spending is a key engine of growth for the world’s largest economy, which faced a slew of disappointing data in recent weeks.

The government also reported a 0.3 per cent rise in US consumer prices in July thanks to rising energy prices after falling 0.1 per cent in June.