Stocks give up gains
Investors abandon early rally as volatile market turns lower.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Wall Street gave up early gains Thursday morning, turning lower, as investors continued to worry about the depth and duration of the recession.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), the Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) all gained nearly 30 minutes into the session.
Stocks rallied in the first minutes of trade as investors sought to scoop up issues hit in the three-day retreat. But any buying interest waned, amid a slew of bad news released before the start of trade.
The Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims totaled 516,000 in the week ended Sept. 8. This is the highest figure in more than seven years, and it trumped expectations. Economists had expected 479,000 claims for the week, according to a consensus of projections from Briefing.com.
Also, foreclosure filings rose 25% in October, compared to the same month last year, according to RealtyTrac.
Wal-Mart beat expectations on earnings but lowered full-year estimates, and Intel warned of a drop in sales.
"Let's face it, the economic news every day is bad," said Peter Cardillo, analyst for Avalon Partners, noting that much of the employment news is "priced in" to the stock market. But he added that hedge funds, which have been liquidating their positions to raise cash, have "exaggerated the downward trend."
Recession fears have gripped investors this week, resulting in massive selling on Wall Street. Over the past three days, the blue-chip Dow has fallen more than 660 points, or 7%.
European markets were mixed, following a report from Germany's Federal Statistics Office that the country had fallen into recession. Asian stocks were down.
Wal-Mart Stores: The world's largest retailer reported third-quarter earnings and sales which were slightly ahead of expectations, but cut its guidance for the full fiscal year ending in January because of currency fluctuations.
Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) reported earnings of 77 cents per share, up from 70 cents during the same period last year, and an increase of 7.5% in third-quarter sales to $97.6 billion.
Analysts had expected $98.3 billion in sales for the third quarter, and earnings of 76 cents per share, according to a consensus of estimates form Thomson Reuters. Wal-Mart shares rose modestly Thursday morning.
This is a big week for retail, with the Commerce Department due to release its retail sales figures for October on Friday. Economists are expecting a decline of 2.1% from the prior month, according to a consensus of projections by Briefing.com.
Intel warning: Tech shares could be pressured after chip giant Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) warned of a sharp sales drop.
The company said after the market close Wednesday it expects to pull in $9 billion in the fourth quarter, versus its earlier forecast of between $10.1 billion and $10.9 billion.
But Intel shares were barely lower Thursday.
Housing market: Nearly 85,000 homes were lost to foreclosure in October, according to RealtyTrac, an online market place for foreclosures. Also last month, more than 279,000 struggling homeowners received foreclosure filings, up 5% from September and up 25% from October 2007.
A total of 936,439 homes have been lost to foreclosure since the housing crisis hit in August 2007, according to RealtyTrac.
Citigroup: The board of Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) is considering replacing its chairman Sir Win Bischoff, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The move comes amid the company's disappointing financial results and falling stock price.
A Citigroup spokeswoman told the newspaper that any report that the board is searching for a new chairman was false.
Oil and currencies: Oil prices, which settled at a 21-month low Wednesday, rebounded slightly.
U.S. crude for December delivery was up 82 cents to $56.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The dollar rose against the yen and the British pound but slipped versus the euro. 
