US close: Dow closes 220 lower, Sears rallies after judge approves Lampert's takeover bid

Wall Street trading ended with all major indexes recording losses on Thursday as investors sifted through more company earnings releases, with Sears staging a late rally after a bankruptcy judge approved billionaire Eddie Lampert's takeover bid.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.87% at 25,169.53, while the S&P 500 had fallen 0.94% to 2,706.05 and the Nasdaq traded 1.18% lower at 7,288.35.

The Dow closed 220 points lower on Thursday as signs that global growth was slowing down continued to pile-up.

Discussing global equities' solid performance so far this year, Konstantinos Anthis, head of research at ADSS, said: "Global stocks have run an impressive rally during the first month of the year but questions now emerge on whether some profit-taking will kick in and drive prices to the downside.

"Risk-off catalysts remain in the background, with the US and China no closer to a trade agreement and President Trump likely to shut down the government again, so we advise caution at this stage."

Elsewhere, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff announced that his committee would open an investigation into Donald Trump’s personal financial interests and his links with foreign powers.

The committee fears that Trump’s actions are driven by personal interests and Schiff said the investigation would "allow us to investigate any credible allegation that financial interests or other interests are driving decision-making of the President or anyone in the administration.

"That pertains to any credible allegations of leverage by the Russians or the Saudis or anyone else," Schiff told reporters.

The investigation will include a continued probe into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and contacts between Moscow and Trump's team.

The USD gained some ground back during the session and was just 0.17% weaker against the GBP at 0.7721 by the close.

In corporate news, Twitter shares were down 9.84% at the close after its fourth-quarter earnings and revenue beat expectations but the company's guidance was light.

Dunkin' Brands was 2.98% weaker as the Dunkin' Donuts owner's fourth-quarter profit topped expectations but revenue was a miss.

Yum! Brands reversed some earlier losses to trade 0.021% at the closing bell as the company's Q4 earnings came in ahead of forecasts but group sales were a touch light.

Elsewhere, Coach and Kate Spade owner Tapestry tumbled 14.83% as its quarterly sales figures missed analysts' expectations, at $1.80bn.

Cigarette maker Philip Morris closed 1.70% higher after revealing a massive fourth-quarter earnings beat and Sears stock rallied 29.82% late in the session after a judge approved billionaire Eddie Lampert's takeover bid.

In deal news, SunTrust Banks and BB&T Corp said they will combine in an all-stock merger of equals valued at approximately $66bn. Shares in both companies closed sharply higher.

On the data front, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell less than expected last week, according to figures from the Labor Department.

US initial jobless claims decreased by 19,000 from the previous week's unrevised level to 234,000, versus expectations for a bigger drop to 221,000.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average came in at 224,750, up 4,500 from the previous week's average.

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "The 53k leap in claims last week was due mostly to seasonal adjustment problems, though it’s possible that unpaid government contractors also boosted the numbers."

"Either way, the lack of a complete reversal this week probably is nothing to worry about; the flaws in the seasonal adjustments don’t always reverse immediately, and it's possible that the extraordinarily cold weather in the mid-west last week lifted claims a bit."