LONDON (ShareCast) - US stocks edged lower on Thursday, relinquishing gains late on as investors digested a raft of mixed economic data and earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 6.84 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell two and five points respectively.

"There's been a lot of attention on the current earnings season and what impact the dollar, weather and oil prices had on profits," said Oanda's senior market analyst Craig Erlam.

"The biggest concern is the strength of the dollar and to what extent it has eroded away at overseas profits, especially as it is only likely to get stronger in the next 12 months."

Initial US unemployment claims rose by 12,000 over the seven days ending on 11 April to reach 294,000, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistic.

"The slight uptick in initial claims is in line with the near-term volatility of the series, and we continue to view claims data as reflective of overall improvement in labor markets," analysts at Barclays said in a note.

Meanwhile, US housing starts grew by 2% month-on-month in March to reach an annualised pace of 926,000, falling below the 1.04m expected by economists.

February's tally was revised higher to show 908,000 starts, in comparison to a preliminary estimate of 897,000.

Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart, a voting member of the FOMC, said the central bank should wait on hiking rates because of disappointing first quarter data, while Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, who isn't a voter, said she would be comfortable with an hike in the short-term future, provided economic growth regained momentum.

Speaking in London, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren, also a non-voter, said that economic data needs to improve before the Fed can start raising rates.

Netflix jumped 18.2% after the internet television network said late on Wednesday that it added 4.88m subscribers in the first quarter, more than the 4.05m analysts had forecasted.

Philip Morris gained 8.7% after the tobacco giant beat profit and sales estimates and raised its full-year outlook.

UnitedHealth rose 3.4% after raising its outlook for 2015 earnings to $6.15 to $6.30 per share from $6.00 to $6.25 per share.

Citigroup rose 1.5% after earnings beat expectations, while Goldman Sachs shed 0.4% despite better-than-expected results.

Going the other way, SanDisk dropped over 4% ahead of the bell the memory-chip maker reported a drop in profit late on Wednesday.

Blackrock lost 1.1% even after its earnings beat expectations.

Party City, online marketplace Etsy and trading firm Virtu Financial jumped upon debut on the New York, with the Party City gaining 20%, while the Etsy surged 90% and Virtu soared 19%.

Oil prices relinquished the previous session's gains, with West Texas Intermediate climbing 0.2% to $56.52 a barrel, while Brent crude fell 0.9% to $63.90 a barrel.

The dollar shed 0.8% against the euro and 0.7% against the pound but was largely stable against the yen, while gold futures shed 0.24% to $1,198.40.

S&P 500 - Risers
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $474.71 +4.43%
Emerson Electric Co. (EMR) $58.40 +2.73%
Genworth Financial Inc. (GNW) $7.93 +2.65%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $542.31 +2.25%
Huntington Bancshares Inc. (HBAN) $11.28 +2.08%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $32.75 +1.99%
Perrigo Company plc (PRGO) $202.35 +1.91%
Ameriprise Financial Inc. (AMP) $126.62 +1.68%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UA) $85.11 +1.62%
Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. (HST) $20.25 +1.61%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $24.14 -5.65%
Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) $4.84 -4.91%
Tesoro Corp. (TSO) $82.07 -4.55%
Fossil Group Inc (FOSL) $81.89 -4.07%
Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) $57.46 -3.80%
Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) $97.21 -3.20%
General Electric Co. (GE) $27.64 -3.05%
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $16.23 -2.96%
Union Pacific Corp. (UNP) $108.49 -2.63%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $68.56 -2.39%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $62.13 +0.70%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $119.37 +0.31%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $107.84 +0.18%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $83.46 +0.13%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $41.76 +0.10%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
General Electric Co. (GE) $27.64 -3.05%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $100.55 -1.48%
Visa Inc. (V) $65.61 -1.10%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $35.09 -0.99%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $56.73 -0.91%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $117.41 -0.89%
3M Co. (MMM) $165.83 -0.74%
Boeing Co. (BA) $153.24 -0.74%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $114.39 -0.74%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $99.27 -0.70%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $474.71 +4.43%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $542.31 +2.25%
Vimpelcom Ltd Ads (VIP) $5.79 +1.58%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $83.03 +1.21%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $190.35 +1.16%
Sba Communications Corp. (SBAC) $118.71 +0.88%
Priceline Group Inc (PCLN) $1,200.01 +0.88%
Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) $51.92 +0.75%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $83.53 +0.72%
Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) $44.55 +0.72%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $24.14 -5.65%
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $16.23 -2.96%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $68.56 -2.39%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $82.91 -2.37%
CH Robinson Worldwide Inc (CHRW) $70.39 -2.32%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $70.45 -1.92%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $133.60 -1.78%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $58.78 -1.72%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $61.75 -1.67%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $61.77 -1.55%

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