Wall Street stocks have fallen for a fifth straight day following disappointing US bank earnings and a surprise move by the Swiss central bank to strengthen its currency.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 106.38 points (0.61 per cent) to 17,320.71 on Thursday.
The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 18.60 (0.92 per cent) to 1,992.67, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slumped 68.50 (1.48 per cent) to 4,570.82.
US quarterly bank earnings continued to disappoint, with Bank of America net income dropping 11.3 per cent and Citigroup profits sinking 86 per cent on a hefty legal charge.
Bank of America shares plummeted 5.2 per cent, while Citi shares dropped 3.7 per cent.
Equity markets in Britain, France and Germany all gained at least 1.7 per cent after Switzerland’s central bank scrapped a policy to artificially hold down the value of the Swiss franc against the euro.
The Swiss move and the ensuing drop in the euro is “perceived to be an economic benefit” to Europe because a cheaper currency benefits manufacturing exports, said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial.
A renewed steep fall in crude-oil prices, with the US contract down four per cent, also weighed on market sentiment.
Dow member JPMorgan Chase, which released disappointing earnings on Wednesday, fell 3.2 per cent. Investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley dropped 1.8 per cent and 1.0 per cent, respectively.
Some leading technology equities suffered deep declines, including Apple (-2.7 per cent), Alibaba (-3.3 per cent), Facebook (-2.9 per cent) and Priceline (-3.6 per cent).
US clothing and home goods retailer Target advanced 1.8 per cent after it announced it was pulling out of Canada following a disappointing launch. Target said fourth-quarter comparable US sales rose about three per cent, better than the two per cent previously projected.
Best Buy plummeted 14.1 per cent as it warned that deflationary pricing and weak industry demand in some categories would challenge results in coming quarters. The electronics retailer said domestic comparable sales rose 2.6 per cent in the holiday shopping period.
BlackBerry sank 20.2 per cent after it quashed a report that said it had been approached by Samsung for a possible takeover. The report had sparked a big rally in BlackBerry shares late on Wednesday.
Bond prices jumped. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 1.74 per cent from 1.85 per cent on Wednesday, while the 30-year dropped from 2.46 per cent to 2.38 per cent, a new all-time low. Bond prices and yields move inversely.