NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
U.S. stocks fell Thursday, as investors gave up on gains accrued earlier in the day and in the previous session, in favor of the consolidation that has marked Wall Street for the past two weeks.
The Nasdaq composite (down 17.73 to 1881.92, Charts) lost 0.9 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 (down 8.79 to 1033.65, Charts) index lost around 0.8 percent, and the Dow Jones industrial average (down 71.04 to 9619.42, Charts) lost around 0.7 percent. All three indexes had traded on both sides of breakeven throughout the session.
"It's been all over the place today because the volume is low. And in that kind of environment, the market is more vulnerable to pulling back on geopolitical concerns and the weakness of the dollar," said Peter Cardillo, director of research at Global Partners Securities.
"But there's no panic selling. It's more about people being on the sidelines," he added. "I would expect things to be pretty quiet and rangebound through the Thanksgiving holiday, barring any unforeseen terrorist attacks or other major geopolitical news."
After the close of trade Thursday, Walt Disney (DIS: down $0.11 to $22.68, Research, Estimates) reported earnings of 17 cents per share, excluding one-time gains, 2 cents better than the 15 cents per share analysts surveyed by First Call were expecting and up from a year earlier.
A few retailers also reported earnings.
Gap (GPS: up $0.06 to $20.99, Research, Estimates) earned 28 cents per share, a penny more than expected and up from a year earlier.
Barnes & Noble (BKS: up $0.10 to $31.23, Research, Estimates) earned 14 cents per share, 5 cents more than First Call estimates and up from a year earlier. Borders Group (BGP: down $0.03 to $21.31, Research, Estimates) earned a penny a share, 2 cents more than analysts were expecting and an improvement from a loss posted a year earlier.
Data storage provider Brocade Communications (BRCD: down $0.03 to $7.15, Research, Estimates) edged lower in after-hours trade after the company reported a profit of 2 cents per share, in line with estimates, on revenue that was slightly lower than expected.
There are no market-moving earnings due Friday and there are no economic reports scheduled.
Thursday's market
An early morning scare that caused the White House to be evacuated briefly -- as well as deadly attacks in Istanbul, Turkey -- spooked investors in the early going. However, once the White House situation was resolved and the staff was allowed to return, stocks recovered.
Investors digested mixed economic reports, with data showing a drop in weekly jobless claims and a rise in leading economic indicators. On the downside, the Philadelphia Fed index, a regional manufacturing survey released at midday, fell to 25.9 in November from a prior reading of 28. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com were expecting a read of 30.
Stocks attempted to rally in the early afternoon but couldn't sustain the effort through the close. The volatility may have been caused in part by Friday's options expiration.
Stocks had traded lower for four sessions in a row on a variety of concerns, including fears of terrorism, rising oil prices and a weak U.S. dollar. Investors, however, returned to the market Wednesday, pushing stocks higher. That return proved to be short-lived Thursday.
Regardless of Thursday's trade, whether the market can continue to rally through the end of the year is up for debate. The Dow and the S&P 500 both reached 17-month highs in early November, while the Nasdaq set at a 21-month high around the same time. Many market watchers say that although the indexes still could end up gaining more by the end of the year, those gains are unlikely to be substantial.
"We may see this push and pull for the next few weeks," said Robert Philips, president and chief investment officer at Walnut Asset Management.
What's moving?
Selling was fairly broad-based, with 27 out of the 30 Dow components closing lower.
Investors took a "sell the news" approach to Hewlett-Packard's (HPQ: down $0.62 to $21.59, Research, Estimates) improved report and forecast. After the close Wednesday, the No. 2 PC maker and Dow component reported earnings of 36 cents per share, a penny more than expected and up from the 24 cents it earned a year earlier. HP also raised its sales forecast for the current quarter. However, it also seconded rivals such as Dell (DELL: down $0.52 to $34.06, Research, Estimates) by saying that it is still not seeing a strong pickup in corporate demand for technology. The stock fell 2.8 percent in active NYSE trade.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD: down $1.10 to $16.50, Research, Estimates) fell 6.2 percent in active NYSE trade after the company confirmed it would build a second chip plant in Dresden, Germany, starting in 2006, that will cost about $2.4 billion. The company has received $1.5 billion in government-backed funding towards the construction.
Eastman Kodak (EK: down $0.49 to $24.02, Research, Estimates) fell 2 percent after the company said it would start making purchases in medical imaging and commercial printing as a means of getting more of a toehold in imaging markets, a move that has been criticized by some investors. The move is a part of the company's $3 billion shift away from traditional film and toward digital printing. Kodak is the Dow's worst-performing stock this year, down 30 percent as of Wednesday's close.
Foot Locker (FL: up $2.46 to $20.76, Research, Estimates) rallied 13.4 percent after the company reported quarterly earnings late Wednesday that topped estimates and grew from a year earlier and issued an improved forecast for the current quarter.
Whiting Petroleum (WLL: up $0.77 to $16.27, Research, Estimates), split from Alliant Energy (LNT: down $0.25 to $23.48, Research, Estimates), rose 5 percent in active NYSE trade in its first day of trading. Initial public offering shares of the oil and gas exploration company were priced at $15.50 each, the high end of their expected range. It's one of seven IPOs expected to begin trading in the next few sessions.
Market breadth was negative, with losers beating winners by more than 3 to 2 on both the New York Stock Exchange, where 1.28 billion shares changed hands, and on the Nasdaq, where volume reached 1.76 billion shares.
Treasury prices rallied, pushing the 10-year note yield down to 4.15 percent from 4.23 percent late Wednesday. The dollar weakened against the yen and euro.
NYMEX light sweet crude oil futures fell 21 cents to settle at $31.86 a barrel. COMEX gold fell $1.20 to settle at $393.70 an ounce.
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