US stocks fall on weak company results

Specialist James Maher, left, works with traders at the post that handles NuSkin on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014. US stocks Thursday finished mostly lower following disappointing results from a number of big companies, including Citigroup and Best Buy. AP PHOTO/RICHARD DREW

NEW YORK—US stocks Thursday finished mostly lower following disappointing results from a number of big companies, including Citigroup and Best Buy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 64.93 points (0.39 percent) to 16,417.01.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 2.49 (0.13 percent) to 1,845.89, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 3.80 (0.09 percent) to 4,218.69.

The US Department of Labor reported weekly jobless claims fell to 326,000, while core consumer prices—which exclude volatile energy and food prices—rose just 0.1 percent in December.

“The economic figures were great, but we want to see it follow through in corporate results,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank.

“Right now investors are looking for a sunny side,” Ablin said.

Electronics retailer Best Buy plunged 28.6 percent after saying November-December same-store sales were 0.8 percent lower than the previous year’s holiday shopping season.

The surprisingly poor figures will leave Best Buy in the “penalty box” for “at least the next two quarters as investors try to assess whether the company’s disappointing results were a temporary setback or permanent in nature,” said RBC Capital Markets.

Citigroup sank 4.4 percent after earnings came in at 82 cents per share, well below the 96 cents forecast by analysts. Results were marred by lower revenues from fixed-income trading and mortgage finance.

Dow member Goldman Sachs fell 2.0 percent despite notching earnings of $4.60 per share, well above the $4.21 projected by analysts. Analysts were disappointed that Goldman’s trading revenues were not more robust.

Yahoo lost 1.8 percent, with chief operating officer Henrique de Castro resigning amid speculation the Internet company’s advertising revenues were not improving quickly enough.

Online networking site LinkedIn advanced 6.7 percent on reports that it hired a new executive to lead its Chinese operations.

Freight rail company CSX lost 6.8 percent after earnings of 42 cents per share missed expectations by a penny.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.84 percent from 2.88 percent Wednesday, while the 30-year dropped to 3.77 percent from 3.81 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely