The New York equities markets were down on the day Wednesday as new government data revealed slower than expected retail sales and weak industrial production numbers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5 percent to 10,544.90, the Nasdaq composite was down 1 percent to 2,149.33, and the S&P 500 lost 0.3 percent to 1,227.16. In the airlines sector, amid more talk of imminent bankruptcies, Northwest Airlines added 19 percent but Delta Air Lines dropped another 9 percent.

Retailers were mostly down on the day. Hardware retailer Loew’s dropped 2.2 percent to $65.99, while Target was off by 2.7 percent to $52.75. Bedding retailer Linens ’n Things, however, saw a gain of 8.9 percent to $28.25 on reports that it has called in advisors and is thinking offering itself for sale.

Elsewhere, internet search engine Google was to begin selling $4.4 billion in new shares, with the goal of building a fund that might be used on new acquisitions, after the close of the trading day. In advance of the offering, Google’s shares dropped 2.8 percent to $303.00 on the day. Among gainers was investment bank Lehman Brothers, which added 1.3 percent to $113.75 after it announced that its quarterly profits were up by 74 percent.