Wall Street declined sharply Thursday with the Dow Jones industrials dropping about points on concerns about consumer spending.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., J.C. Penney Co. and Federated Department Stores Inc. all reported weak performances in business in April.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department reported that the number of laid off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits fell for a fourth straight time to 297,000 last week, a drop of 9,000 from the previous week.

The U.S. trade deficit soared more than 10 percent to 63.9 billion dollars in March, hitting its highest level in six months.

The downturn in stocks followed a two-week-rise that pushed the Dow Jones above 13,300, after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged Wednesday and reiterated that inflation remains its primary concern.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 147.74, or 1.11 percent, to 13,215.13. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 21.11, or 1.40 percent, to 1,491.47, and the Nasdaq composite index declined 42.60, or 1.65 percent, to 2,533.74.