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Dow Jones Industrials: -0.45%
Nasdaq Comp.: -0.80%
S&P 500: -0.59%

US stock markets extended losses on the back of the previous night's release of the minutes of the last Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, as traders showed concerns that the Fed would scale back stimulus measures.

Stocks however did manage to finish off their worst levels of the day, as comments from some Fed speakers came in a tad less aggressive.

Even so, also weighing on stocks were a barrage of weak economic data from home and abroad. "Ironically, poor data sometimes also leads some to temper their calls for a change of tack in monetary policy, with equities benefiting as a result, although it remains to be seen if weak data can compensate fully for the 'balance sheet risks' that some policymakers see," comment analysts at Digital Look.

Of interest in any case, market analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari had this to say, "The markets had clearly priced in ultra-loose monetary policy from the Fed until the end of the year, despite recent grumblings from certain board members. These grumblings turned to real concerns about costs and risk associated to the bond buying at this month's meeting, with more members clearly being swayed by the argument against further buying, or looking for an alternative.

"One thing is now clear, these purchases are likely to be scaled back sooner than we thought and it could come as early as March," he added.

Economic data disappoints

Initial jobless claims rose by 20,000 last week to 362,000 (consensus forecast: 355,000).

The core rate for consumer prices rose by 0.3% month-on-month in January (consensus: +0.2%).

Existing home sales rose at an annualised rate of 4.92m in January (consensus: 4.90m). However, the previous month's tally was revised down by 40,000.

The US Federal Reserve bank of Philadelphia's manufacturing gauge for the month of February came in at -12.5 following a reading of -5.8 for the previous month (consensus: 1.0).

Meanwhile, in the Eurozone, the composite purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 47.3 points from January's reading of 48.6 (consensus: 49.0).

Cyclical stocks bear the brunt of selling

Banking stocks were sold off in the wake of the FOMC minutes and disappointing economic figures. Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co were out of favour.

Shares in home improvement retailers Lowe's and Home Depot were under pressure after Stifel Nicolaus downgraded both firms from 'buy' to 'neutral'.

Also weighing on the stocks were probably comments in the Fed minutes last night that said that participants still saw a "depressed" housing market Stateside with "weak" levels of activity.

In contrast, video games group Electronic Arts was in the blue after Macquarie upgraded its rating for the stock from 'neutral' to 'overweight'.

Retail giant Wal-Mart was higher after beating expectations with a 8.6% jump in fourth-quarter profits.

Shares of Hewlett Packard rocketed 7% higher after the close following the release of its latest quarterly results.

From a sector stand-point the worst performers were: Tires (-2.89%), Home improvement retailers (-2.88%) Hotel&Lodging (-2.83%) and Semiconductors (-2.10%).

S&P 500 - Risers
Safeway Inc. (SWY) $22.97 +14.11%
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP) $21.55 +6.74%
Kroger Co. (KR) $28.76 +3.94%
Dollar General Corp (DG) $45.51 +3.90%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $87.28 +3.34%
International Paper Co. (IP) $41.31 +3.09%
Dollar Tree Stores Inc. (DLTR) $41.46 +2.90%
Constellation Brands Inc. Class A (STZ) $42.96 +2.78%
Family Dollar Stores Inc. (FDO) $56.30 +2.61%
Tesoro Corp. (TSO) $53.28 +2.42%

S&P 500 - Fallers
LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) $57.68 -4.28%
Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC) $14.43 -4.06%
PG&E Corp. (PCG) $41.41 -3.97%
Dentsply International Inc. (XRAY) $41.31 -3.93%
Red Hat Inc. (RHT) $51.71 -3.74%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $2.60 -3.70%
Patterson Companies Inc. (PDCO) $35.69 -3.67%
Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. (HST) $16.43 -3.52%
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) $49.05 -3.52%
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $11.42 -3.22%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $17.10 +2.40%
Boeing Co. (BA) $76.01 +1.64%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $70.26 +1.52%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $45.12 +0.45%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $80.38 +0.34%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $76.87 +0.29%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $94.14 +0.24%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $55.24 +0.05%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $114.99 +0.00%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $11.42 -3.22%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $64.38 -3.10%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $20.25 -2.32%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $91.53 -1.81%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $20.76 -1.63%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $27.49 -1.36%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $8.66 -1.14%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $89.41 -0.83%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $54.17 -0.79%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $48.25 -0.74%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $87.28 +3.34%
Dollar Tree Stores Inc. (DLTR) $41.46 +2.90%
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $63.76 +1.03%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $561.25 +0.79%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $85.13 +0.57%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $159.31 +0.56%
Google Inc. (GOOG) $795.53 +0.39%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $88.77 +0.36%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $28.81 +0.34%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $14.28 +0.28%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Facebook Inc. (FB) $27.28 -4.14%
Dentsply International Inc. (XRAY) $41.31 -3.93%
Liberty Interactive Corp (LINTA) $20.82 -3.12%
Avago Technologies Ltd. (AVGO) $33.67 -2.88%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $34.54 -2.81%
Expeditors International Of Washington Inc. (EXPD) $40.75 -2.54%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $13.25 -2.50%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $50.89 -2.49%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $7.68 -2.48%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $75.17 -2.44%

AB

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