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By Staff Reporters

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Kroger and Albertsons supermarkets are in talks to sell more than 400 stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers for nearly $2 billion as part of their proposed $25 billion merger, according to a report from Reuters. The divestiture, which was first reported to be in the works on Tuesday by Bloomberg, is part of a move to mollify antitrust regulators at the Federal Trade Commission.

Kroger and Albertsons plan to sell stores that are in the Pacific Northwest, the Mountain states and in California, Texas, Illinois, and the East Coast, Reuters reported. A deal could be announced as early as this week.

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Here is where the major benchmarks ended:

• The S&P 500^® Index (SPX) was down 14.34 points (0.3%) at 4,451.14; the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was up 57.54 points (0.2%) at 34,500.73; the NASDAQ Composite was down 123.64 points (0.9%) at 13,748.83.
• The 10-year Treasury note yield (TNX) was down about 4 basis points at 4.252%.
• CBOE’s Volatility Index (VIX) was down 0.05 at 14.40.

Technology shares were among the market’s weakest performers Thursday, as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) fell nearly 2%. Regional banks and small-cap stocks were also under pressure, with the Russell 2000 (RUT) dropping near a two-week low. Utilities were among the few sectors to post gains.

The U.S. dollar index (DXY) climbed for the fifth consecutive day and touched a six-month high amid ideas interest rates will remain elevated for a prolonged period.

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