By Saumya Vaishampayan And Dan Strumpf
U.S. stocks slipped Thursday, pausing after two sessions of
gains, amid declines in European markets.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 34 points, or 0.2%, to
18079, while the S&P 500 eased five points, or 0.2%, to 2102.
The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 10 points, or 0.2%, to 5000.
Traders said a selloff in European shares and a turn lower in
oil prices kept U.S. stocks under pressure, despite several
positive earnings reports, particularly from the financial
sector.
"There's still nervousness about Europe for sure," said Steve
Bombardiere, trader at Conifer Securities. "We have these days
where it just overtakes whatever the earnings news is."
Germany's DAX fell 1.5% and France's CAC 40 slipped 0.4%, as
German government bonds hit record highs.
In earnings news, shares of Citigroup Inc. rose 1.6% after
reporting its first-quarter profit jumped a bigger-than-expected
21%.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said its first-quarter profit and
revenue rose, with results beating analysts' expectations. Still,
shares fell 1.1%.
Stocks have advanced this month, nearing all-time highs. The Dow
and S&P have both gained 1.9% so far in April and are
approaching records last seen in early March. The Dow is now 1%
away from its record of 18288.63, while the S&P is 0.5% below
its record of 2117.39.
Stocks rose Wednesday, pushing the Nasdaq Composite closer to
its all-time high. The Nasdaq gained 0.7% to 5011.02, ending just
0.7% shy of its 15-year-old record of 5048.62. The Dow rose 0.4% to
18112.61 and the S&P added 0.5% to 2106.63.
Crude-oil futures fell 1.2% to $55.71 a barrel Thursday, pulling
back after five straight sessions of gains. The declines weighed on
the energy sector, with energy stocks in the S&P 500 shedding
0.8%.
In economic news, U.S. housing starts rose 2% in March from a
month earlier to an annual rate of 926,000, the Commerce Department
said. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected
an annual rate of 1.04 million.
In other earnings news, UnitedHealth Group Inc. lifted its
full-year guidance due to a stronger-than-expected 13% increase in
first-quarter revenue. Shares jumped 3.6%.
Netflix Inc. said Wednesday it added 4.88 million subscribers in
the March quarter, which topped Netflix's own forecast for 4.05
million additions. Shares soared 13%.
Jobless claims rose 12,000 to 294,000 in the week ended April
11, the Labor Department said. Economists had expected 280,000
claims.
In other markets, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to
1.909 % from 1.900% on Wednesday. Yields fall as prices rise.
Gold futures added 0.4% to $1205.60 an ounce.
Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com and
Dan Strumpf at daniel.strumpf@wsj.com
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