Stocks Flop as U.S. and Eurozone Show Weakness

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Major U.S. stock markets stumbled Thursday on lackluster economic data from the eurozone and softer-than-expected results from the latest U.S. economic indicators.

The euro retreated on worries that Cyprus's financial crisis could compound Europe's debt crisis, and U.S. home re-sales rose less than forecast.

The markets' response to a less-than-expected rise in claims for U.S. unemployment benefits was muted, and investors showed little reaction to reports from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's Business Outlook Survey and Conference Board's Index of Leading Indicators that pointed to improving economic growth.

The S&P 500 declined 0.83% to 1,545.80.

Shares of computer services company Oracle plummeted 9.6% to $32.32 on Thursday, making the stock one of the worst performers on the S&P. Oracle shares retreated on the heels of a fiscal third-quarter miss on sales and profits, which took a hit from businesses moving into cloud services from servers.

The Nasdaq slumped 0.97% to 3,222.60 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.62% to 14,421.49.

European markets slid and the euro declined 0.29% on the dollar as contagion risks increased on Cyprus's struggles to secure a bailout amid signs of a deepening Euro-area recession.

The FTSE 100 in London slipped 0.69% and the DAX in Germany stumbled 0.87% after Markit Economics said an initial reading on a survey of purchasing managers in the services and manufacturing industries revealed that Europe's economic downturn intensified for a second month in March. Markit also reported that German private sector output slowed this month the most in 2013.

The U.S. Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose 2,000 in the week ended March 16 to 336,000, from an upwardly-revised 334,000 the prior week. That was less than the 342,000 expected by economists.

In housing news, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.98 million units in February from an upwardly-revised 4.94 million-unit rate in January. That was less than expectations for an increase of 5 million units in February.