Stocks fell Thursday as rising oil and gold prices, a weaker U.S. dollar, and more negative economic reports gave investors a reason to retreat from the recent rally, in which the Standard & Poor's 500 stocks rose 17 percent over the past seven sessions. Light sweet crude oil for April delivery rose $3.47, or 7 percent, to $51.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest closing price since late November. Gold for April delivery jumped $69.70 to $958.80 an ounce (28.3 grams). Both commodities rose due to the declining U.S. dollar, which fell versus the euro and the yen. In economic news, the number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits rose to a record 5.47 million. The index of leading economic indicators fell 0.4 percent in February after rising 0.1 percent the previous month. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 85.78, or 1.15 percent, to 7,400.80. Citigroup said Thursday it was pursuing a reverse stock split—reducing the number of outstanding shares in the company by consolidating them—to help counter the conversion of the government's big share of preferred stock into common stock. After initially jumping 20 percent, shares turned lower. Other Dow bank shares retreated, including Bank of America. Shares of troubled automaker GM rose 12 percent after the U.S. Treasury said it would provide $5 billion to auto suppliers. The broader S&P 500 index fell 10.31, or 1.3 percent, to 784.04. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 7.74, or 0.5 percent, to 1,483.48. Oracle reported higher quarterly profits and a smaller-than-expected sales decline. The business software maker also declared its first quarterly dividend, and its shares jumped 12 percent. The New York Stock Exchange composite index fell 38.08 to 4,937.22. The American Stock Exchange composite index rose 8.01 to 1,335.74. And the Russell 2000 index fell 4.37 to 413.26.
