Stocks Fall for Second Straight Day

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Major U.S. equity indices slumped for a second straight day Thursday after jobless claims rose and data on general business conditions came in soft. Stocks also suffered from Wednesday's selloff that had resulted from the Federal Reserve's release of the minutes from its January meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 47 points, or 0.3%, to 13,881.

Breadth within the Dow was negative, with losers outpacing winners 21 to nine. Bank of America (BAC) , Intel (INTC) and Home Depot (HD) led decliners on the blue-chip index.

Boeing (BA) , Wal-Mart (WMT) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) were the top gainers.

Boeing is expected to detail Friday its plan to return the grounded Dreamliner jet to service, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. Shares added 1.7%.

Wal-Mart announced quarterly earnings from continuing operations of $1.67 a share on revenue of $127.1 billion. Analysts expected profit of $1.57 a share on revenue of $128.9 billion. Shares of the world's largest retailer tacked on 1.5%.

Hewlett-Packard reported a profit of 82 cents a share on revenue of $28.4 billion. Analysts predicted the tech company would post earnings of 71 cents a share on revenue of $27.79 billion during its fiscal first quarter. Shares increased more than 5% in after-hours trading.

Volumes were heavy on the exchanges as investors traded 4.23 billion shares on the New York Stock Exchange and 2.04 billion shares on the Nasdaq. Decliners were ahead of advancing issues by a 2.2-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 2.3-to-1 ratio on the tech-heavy index.

The S&P 500 shed 10 points, or 0.6%, to 1,502. The Nasdaq fell 33 points, or 1%, to 3,131.

Shares of Apple (AAPL) slipped 0.6% on Thursday after Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn hosted a conference call about the iPhone manufacturer's proposal to eliminate preferred stock.