New York Jan 19 (IANS) US stocks closed lower as investors digested the sharp gains made in the previous session.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday lost 97.84 points or 0.37 per cent to 26 017.81 Xinhua news agency reported.
The S&P 500 decreased 4.53 points or 0.16 per cent to 2 798.03. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 2.23 points or 0.03 per cent to 7 296.05.
Investors continue to look at latest earnings reports.
Morgan Stanley posted fourth-quarter earnings and revenue on Thursday that beat analyst expectations. Excluding a charge related to the tax bill the company reported earnings per diluted share of $0.84 higher than market expectations of $0.77.
Earnings season is off to a strong start thus far. According to financial research company FactSet of the S&P 500 companies that had reported as of Friday 69 percent have surpassed earnings-per-share estimates while 85 percent have beaten expectations on the top line.
On the economic front in the week ending January 13 the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 220 000 a decrease of 41 000 from the previous week s unrevised level of 261 000 said the labor department on Thursday.
This is the lowest level for initial claims since February 24 1973 when it was 218 000 the department said.
The four-week moving average was 244 500 a decrease of 6 250 from the previous week s unrevised average of 250 750.
On Wednesday major indices posted record closes on strong earnings reports. The Dow closed above 26 000 for the first time while the S&P 500 finished above 2 800 for the first time.
--IANS
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