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U.S. stocks closed down for the fourth straight session with losses coming as the earnings season is kicking into high gear with two major banks reporting results this morning.
Both JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) fell after posting their quarterly results.
At the closing bell in New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 187 points to end at 17427 while the Nasdaq lost 22 points to settle at 4639 and the S&P 500 shed 12 points to finish at 2011.
The losses follow a volatile session on Tuesday which saw the Dow up 282 points only to then fall 143 points before closing 27 points lower.
Global equities settled in the red on global growth worries with shares in Europe led by losses in the UK as mining stocks weighed on the FTSE100 index.
On the economic calendar today retail sales sunk 0.9% in December spurred by lower gas prices much weaker than the 0.2% drop expected. Minus autos and gas retail sales declined 0.3% last month.
The government also reported that US import prices fell 2.5% December the biggest drop since 2008 due to cheaper oil.
Meanwhile November business inventories rose 0.2% slightly below consensus forecasts of a 0.3% rise after a 0.2% increase in October.
In the afternoon the Fed released its Beige Book the central bank's region-by-region assessment of the US economy which showed that economic activity continued to expand at a "modest" or "moderate" pace of growth.
Commodities
Copper a major manufacturing material fell to mid-2009 lows on Wednesday amid a supply glut and concerns about Chinese demand.
High-grade copper for March delivery dropped 5.2% to US$2.51 a pound hitting levels not seen since mid-2009.
The commodity is seen as bellwether for the global economy as the metal is used in a wide range of construction and manufacturing activities. In other metals gold for February delivery slid $0.10 to settle at $1234.50 an ounce.
In contrast West Texas Intermediate for February delivery increased 5.6% to settle at US$48.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold for February delivery slid US$0.10 to settle at US$1234.50 an ounce.
March silver fell 1% to US$16.99 an ounce.
March palladium tumbled 4.3% to US$780.65 an ounce while April platinum dropped 0.7% to US$1239 an ounce.
Wall Street round-up
In corporate activity JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) reported worse than expected fourth quarter earnings as it missed estimates on both revenue and profit hurt by nearly US$1 billion in legal costs. Shares fell 3.5% on Wednesday.
Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) meanwhile reported fourth quarter earnings in line with estimates but shares fell 1.2% as the company's net interest margin a key measure of lending profitability narrowed.
CSX (NYSE:CSX) reported earnings in line with estimates while revenues slightly beat views. It said it sees double digit earnings growth this year helped by an increase in its freight operations. Shares climbed 0.3%.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) was also in the spotlight with shares down about 5.7% after the company's CEO Elon Musk said that the electric car maker will not be profitable until 2020 but is expecting to boost production of electric cars to at least a few million a year by 2025 from fewer than 40000 in 2014. He spoke at an industry conference in Detroit.
Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) is the latest energy victim which has responded by cutting spending in response to lower oil prices.
The company said it will trim US$1 billion from its capital spending program and operating expense reductions of up to $800 million will be phased in over two years.
Elsewhere GameStop (NYSE:GME) reported a 4.4% increase in December same store sales on the back of strong consumer demand for its video games. The retailer also hiked its same store sales forecast for its fourth quarter ending in January. Shares surged 10.5%.
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