US stocks close lower amid earnings, data

New York, Oct 13 (IANS) US stocks closed lower as investors digested third quarter earnings reports as well as latest economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday lost 31.88 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 22,841.01, Xinhua news agency reported.

The S&P 500 was down 4.31 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 2,550.93. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 12.04 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 6,591.51.

JP Morgan Chase reported quarterly earnings per share of $1.76 and net revenue of $26.2 billion, beating market expectations.

However, investors were concerned about the banking giant's 27-per cent year-over-year decline in fixed income trading revenue.

Citigroup also reported better-than-expected earnings. Its earnings per diluted share in the third quarter reached $1.42 while the revenues stood at $18.2 billion.

Meanwhile, shares of Equifax declined 1.53 per cent after the company said it is investigating another possible cyberbreach.

On the economic front, the Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand increased 0.4 per cent last month after rising 0.2 per cent in August. In the 12 months through September, the index rose 2.6 per cent.

In a separate report, the department said the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 243,000 in the week ending October 7, a decrease of 15,000 from the previous week's revised level.

The four-week moving average was 257,500, a decrease of 9,500 from the previous week's revised average, said the department.