US stocks end mostly lower following disappointing earning reports

Nasdaq manage to eke out a gain though

U.S. stocks ended mostly lower on Thursday, 16 January 2014 snapping a two-day rally, after disappointing results from some big names at Wall Street. The stock market began the day on the defensive after two influential sectors, consumer discretionary and financials were hit with a one-two punch of selling interest. The Nasdaq Composite edged higher. Dow was down in five out of the past seven sessions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 64.93 points, or 0.4%, to 16,417.01. The Nasdaq Composite edged up 3.8 points, or 0.1%, to 4,218.69. The S&P 500 lost 2.5 points, or 0.1% to end at 1,845.89.

Investors digested disappointing results from electronics retailer Best Buy and Citigroup as well as economic data that generally met expectations.

Best Buy plunged 29% after the retailer reported unexpectedly disappointing holiday sales . The CEO called it a speed bump. Citigroup shares were down 4.4% after the bank's fourth-quarter earnings missed Wall Street estimates.

In overnight news, China's so-called beige book quarterly survey of banks and businesses showed loans to consumers and businesses were hard to come by and that many loans were made to extend current loans. With the world economies and financial systems now being so closely inter-connected, any serious credit problems in China could quickly become a worldwide contagion.

It was also reported Thursday that the Euro zone's consumer inflation rate was up 0.3% in November from October and were up 0.8% on the year. These figures are well below the 2.0% inflation rate the European Central Bank has targeted as being optimal. Still, German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann said Thursday he sees only a slight chance for deflationary pressures to envelop the European Union.

The dollar index slipped by 0.25% on Thursday.

At Wall Street, the day was heavy in terms of economic data. Weekly initial claims fell to 326,000 from a downwardly revised 328,000 (from 330,000) while the consensus expected the claims level to increase to 333,000. Since the end of November, the initial claims data have been plagued with biases from poor seasonal adjustments. According to the Department of Labor, those problems have now ended, and the data are giving an accurate read of current labor market trends. The continuing claims level increased to 3.030 million from a downwardly revised 2.856 million (from 2.865 million).

December consumer prices increased an in-line 0.3% after a flat November reading. The move in consumer prices was primarily the result of an upward swing in energy prices. After two months of declines, energy prices rose 2.1%. The gain contributed to a 3.1% increase in gasoline prices. Food prices increased 0.1% for a second consecutive month. Excluding food and energy, core CPI increased 0.1%, down from a 0.2% increase in November. The consensus expected core CPI to increase 0.2%.

Also, the January NAHB Housing Market Index fell to 56 from 58. Today's report was below the reading of 57 expected by the consensus. The January Philadelphia Fed Survey rose to 9.4 from 6.4 while market had expected a reading of 8.0.

Bullion metals ended mixed at Comex on Thursday, 16 January 2014. Gold futures settled higher on Thursday as a decline in U.S. equities and weakness in the dollar helped prices score for their first gain in three sessions. Silver declined.

Gold for February delivery rose $1.90, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,240.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures had tallied a loss of almost $13 an ounce over the past two trading sessions. On Wednesday, gold prices fell as investors bought up equities amid another batch of better-than-expected economic numbers. March silver extended its losses to a third straight session, losing 8 cents, or 0.4%, to $20.05 an ounce.

Crude oil futures closed slightly lower at Nymex on Thursday, 16 January 2014. Natural-gas futures on Thursday logged their highest close of the year though, after U.S. data showed a record weekly decline in supplies of the heating fuel following last week's cold spell. February crude oil fell 21 cents, or 0.2%, to close at $93.96 a barrel.

Indian ADRs ended mixed on Thursday. In the IT space, Infosys rose 1.18% at $60.70 and Wipro gained 5.87% at $13.52. In the banking space, ICICI Bank was down 0.72% at $36.04 and HDFC Bank shed 1% at $34.81. Also Read - Dow, S&P 500 end down; bond trading bites bank profits In the other sectors, Tata Motors slipped 2.62% at $30.07 and Dr Reddys Laboratories added 0.74% at $43.36.

Tomorrow, December Housing Starts and Building Permits will be released at 8:30 ET while December Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization will be reported at 9:15 ET. The day's data will be topped off with the 9:55 ET release of the preliminary University of Michigan Sentiment survey for January.

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