Stocks End Mostly Lower, Nasdaq Edges Up

U.S. stocks ended lower on Thursday, as earnings reports from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. took down the financial sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 64.93 points, or 0.39%, to 16,417.01. The S&P 500 lost 2.49 points, or 0.13%, to 1,845.89, led by a 0.6% retreat in the financial sector. The Nasdaq Composite ended up 3.81 points, or 0.09%, to 4,218.69.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc reported a 21 percent drop in quarterly profit as revenue from fixed-income trading fell. Net income applicable to common shareholders fell to $2.25 billion (1.37 billion pounds), or $4.60 per share, in the fourth quarter from $2.83 billion, or $5.60 per share, in the same quarter of 2012.

Citigroup said fourth-quarter profit more than doubled, but still fell short of analysts’ forecasts on weakness in new mortgage loans and weak revenues from bond trading. It earned $2.7 billion, or $0.85 per share, on revenues of $17.8 billion. This compared to net income of $1.2 billion, or $0.38 per diluted share, on revenues of $17.9 billion for the fourth quarter 2012.

Intel Corp. (INTC) on Thursday reported a fourth-quarter profit of $2.6 billion, or 51 cents a share, compared with a profit of $2.5 billion, or 48 cents a share, for the year-earlier period. Revenue was $13.8 billion, up from $13.5 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet on average were expecting the chip maker to report a profit of 52 cents a share, on revenue of $13.72 billion.

The U.S. government sent a confidential, 16-page technical bulletin to retailers and other merchants on Thursday that describes the malicious software and techniques used to attack Target Corp late last year.

A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Thursday rejected a deal for Detroit to end costly interest-rate swap agreements with two investment banks, potentially eliminating a source of cash for the bankrupt city.