US close: Markets tumble after Wednesday's rally

US markets tumbled on Thursday, as companies began reporting quarterly earnings and investors looked intent to book profits after Wednesday's gain, as the Dow Jones suffered its fourth 300-point decline in 2014.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 334.97 down to 16,659.25 points, while the Nasdaq dropped 90.26 to 4,378.34 points and the S&P 500 shed 40.68 to 1,928.21 points.

“What we’re seeing is profit taking from yesterday’s trading ,where we saw nearly 2% gains, and I think that was a bit overdone,” said Craig Erlam, market analyst at Alpari U.K.

“We’ve seen massive rallies off those Fed minutes, which weren’t exactly the most dovish thing we’ve ever heard, and there was no real change in policy."

Investors were also left unimpressed by comments from Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank president.

“I cannot see any way out of the crisis unless we create more confidence in the future potential of our economies," Draghi said on Thursday.

"Demand side policies can play a part in this by forestalling so-called 'hysteresis' – a situation where workers are unemployed for too long and lose their skills. The quicker we can return the economy to potential, the less potential we will lose.”

Government data released on Thursday showed the number of people who applied for jobless benefits in the first week of October remained below 300,000 for the fourth consecutive week and the first time it has happened in over eight years.

According to Labor Department data, the number of initial jobless claims in the week ended 4 October declined by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 287,000, with jobless claims now 21% lower than 12 months ago.

The main unemployment indicator fell to 5.9% in September as the rate edged below 6% for the first time since 2008, while the average of new claims in September dropped by 7,250 to 287,750, reaching the lowest level since February 2006.

In corporate news, Pepsi dropped 0.39%, despite reporting third quarter profit and sales that exceeded expectations, while Alcoa shares lost 4.23%, even though the firm's third quarter earnings beat estimates.

Apple gained 0.22% despite a Wall Street Journal report announcing that the Silicon Valley giant has delayed plans to produce a larger version of the iPad until early 2015.

Google dropped 2.22% after news emerged that the firm’s tax deal in France is being challenged, while Symantec lost 2.37% before announcing plans to split itself into two.

Gold prices surged forward 1.47%, while West Texas intermediate oil was in decline for a third consecutive session and dropped over 2.3%, closing at just over $85 a barrel, 20% under its June peak.

The yield of 10-year Treasury notes rose one basis point to 2.34, while the 30-year Treasury rose by the same margin to 3.07 and the five-year note rose two basis points to 1.58.

The dollar was in retreat against the pound and the yen, but it registered a marginal gain against the euro early on.

S&P 500 - Risers
Ventas Inc. (VTR) $64.54 +1.33%
Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) $101.65 +1.25%
Equity Residential (EQR) $64.10 +0.83%
Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE) $203.01 +0.83%
Perrigo Company plc (PRGO) $152.39 +0.63%
HCP Inc. (HCP) $41.14 +0.49%
AvalonBay Communities Inc. (AVB) $145.91 +0.37%
Simon Property Group Inc. (SPG) $168.66 +0.34%
Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL) $51.62 +0.25%
Kimco Realty Corp. (KIM) $22.63 +0.22%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Gap Inc. (GPS) $36.67 -12.48%
Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) $10.24 -9.22%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $56.50 -9.15%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $33.90 -7.33%
QEP Resources Inc (QEP) $26.46 -7.32%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $19.18 -7.03%
Williams Companies Inc. (WMB) $50.18 -6.82%
Newfield Exploration Co (NFX) $31.68 -6.38%
ONEOK Inc. (OKE) $58.80 -6.25%
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) $90.00 -6.18%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $93.50 -3.26%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $91.82 -2.95%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $114.51 -2.92%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $181.27 -2.88%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $85.71 -2.72%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $102.08 -2.70%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $99.94 -2.62%
Visa Inc. (V) $207.71 -2.19%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $59.08 -2.19%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $45.85 -1.99%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $101.02 +0.22%
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $41.10 +0.05%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Vimpelcom Ltd Ads (VIP) $6.02 -5.94%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $31.35 -5.74%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $30.64 -5.20%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $27.87 -3.80%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $35.79 -3.69%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $3.28 -3.67%
Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) $89.99 -3.62%
Liberty Interactive Corp (QVCA) $28.87 -3.51%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $170.30 -3.47%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $65.66 -3.43%