Wall Street Slides Amid Mixed Earnings

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The markets took a hit on Thursday after a two-day advance as traders mulled mixed corporate results and economic data.

Today's Markets

As of 11:14 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 97.1 points, or 0.59%, to 16384, the S&P 500 dipped 5.9 points, or 0.32%, to 1843 and the Nasdaq Composite slumped 5.2 points, or 0.12%, to 4209.

The bulls came back to life over the past two days, with the Dow posting a back-to-back triple-digit rally. The gains have been driven by strong bank earning. That string of beats continued when Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), the biggest U.S. investment bank, posted results that blew past expectations. However, Citigroup's (NYSE:C) results, however, trailed estimates.

Elsewhere on the corporate front, Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) shares nose dived 30% after the struggling tech retailer revealed disappointing holiday results. Carlyle Group (NYSE:CG) offered $4.15 billion to buy Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE:JNJ) Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics unit.

There are several key economic reports due out on the day.

The Labor Department said consumer-level inflation rose 0.3% in December from the month prior, matching Wall Street’s expectations. Excluding the food and energy components, prices rose 0.1%, also matching views.

Another report from Labor showed the number of Americans filing for first-time jobless benefits fell last week to 326,000 from a downwardly revised 328,000 the week prior. Wall Street was looking for 328,000 new claims, down from an initially-reported 330,000.

The Philadelphia Fed’s gauge of manufacturing activity in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region jumped to 9.4 in January from 6.4 the month prior. Wall Street was looking for a reading of 8.6.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Home Builders’ measure of homebuilder sentiment fell to 56 in January from 57 the month prior. Wall Street was looking for a reading of 58.

In commodities, U.S. crude oil futures rose 15 cents, or 0.16%, to $94.32 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline fell 0.54% to $2.612 a gallon. Gold slipped to $1,237 a troy ounce.