Stocks Ended Marginally Lower

U.S. stocks ended marginally lower on Thursday, breaking a four-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.45 point at 16,572.55. The S&P 500 was off 2.13 points, or 0.11%, at 1,888.77. The Nasdaq Composite fell 38.71 points, or 0.91%, at 4,237.74,

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi told reporters the central bank had considered quantitative easing. The ECB left key policy unchanged, but mildly disappointed investors who were hoping for an announcement of quantitative easing measures.

Micron Technology (MU) on Thursday reported a fiscal second-quarter profit of $731 million, or 61 cents a share, compared to a loss of $286 million, or 28 cents a share, for the year-earlier period. Revenue jumped to $4.11 billion from $2.08 billion. Adjusted profit was 85 cents a share.

Bullish options bets placed in Anadarko Petroleum this week made significant profits on Thursday when the company announced it had reached a settlement to resolve pollution clean-up claims, sending shares more than 15 percent higher.

Barnes & Noble Inc. shares were sharply lower Thursday after a key investor said it was slashing its stake in the bookstore chain. Barnes & Noble, which operates 663 stores in 50 states, announced Thursday that Liberty Media Corp. had decided to sell about 90% of its shares of the company.