NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks slipped Thursday as investors adopted a more cautious tone following warnings of lackluster retail sales and a greater-than-expected increase in weekly jobless claims.

Retailers’ reports on sales at stores open at least a year, an important measure known as same-stores sales, concerned some investors because of scattered warnings that sales would be light during April.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level in two months. The Labor Department’s weekly report, which Wall Street often regards as a volatile number, showed applications for jobless benefits totaled 342,000 last week.

In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 29.01, or 0.23 percent, to 12,455.61.

Broader stock indicators fell. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped 2.18, or 0.15 percent, to 1,436.69, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 3.40, or 0.14 percent, to 2,455.91.

Bonds rose, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.73 percent from 4.74 percent late Wednesday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

The decline in stocks follows a pullback Wednesday prompted by minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting that showed the central bank remains concerned enough about inflation that it won’t rule out an increase in interest rates.

Higher oil prices also weighed on stocks. On Wednesday, weekly government figures showed a larger-than-expected decline in gasoline stockpiles. Light, sweet crude rose $1.18 to $63.19 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

News from retailers raised concerns about upcoming results. While Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said same-store sales for the March period rose 4 percent – well above the 1.6 percent Wall Street expected – the company warned April will prove a difficult month. Customers of the world’s largest retailers can be more sensitive than other consumers to gas prices, which have been increasing in recent months. Wal-Mart fell 17 cents to $47.10.

Federated Department Stores Inc., parent of Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, warned its first-quarter sales will come in at the low end of expectations. Federated rose 11 cents to $44.75.

Meanwhile, quarterly earnings reports, which began arriving in earnest this week, haven’t offered a strong catalyst to push stocks higher.

Research in Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry handheld device, fell $12.64, or 8.7 percent, to $133.38 after the company disclosed that the Securities and Exchange Commission has formalized an investigation into the company’s practices for granting stock options. The company said its fiscal fourth-quarter sales jumped 66 percent.

Genentech Inc. fell $1.94, or 2.3 percent, to $80.75 after the biotechnology company said first-quarter sales of its two key cancer treatments fell from the fourth quarter. The company’s first-quarter profit surged 68 percent.

Mortgage lender NovaStar Financial Inc., which has struggled with its portfolio of so-called subprime mortgages, those made to people with poor credit, said it is considering putting itself up for sale. The stock rose 34 cents, or 6.7 percent, to $5.37.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 243.7 million shares.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 3.03, or 0.37 percent, to 805.21.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average closed down 0.73 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.52 percent, Germany’s DAX index fell 0.84 percent, and France’s CAC-40 fell 0.65 percent.

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