Awwal 22, 1432 H/Feb 25, 2011, SPA -- U.S. stocks ended mixed Thursday, as oil prices retreated from two-year highs above $100 a barrel. In U.S. economic news, weekly initial jobless claims fell last week, the Labor Department said in a report. First-time applications for jobless aid dropped to 391,000 in the week ended February 19—down from 413,000 a week earlier. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department report on durable goods showed that orders rose 2.7 percent in January, up from 2.5 percent in December. The increase was in line with economists' expectations. In a separate report, the Commerce Department said that new home sales declined more-than-expected in January to an annual rate of 284,000. In U.S. company news, General Motors shares fell 5 percent after the automaker reported an annual profit of $4.7 billion in 2010, making it the company's first annual profit since 2004. The U.S. dollar fell versus the euro and the yen. Light sweet crude oil for April delivery fell 82 cents to $97.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures rose $1.80 to $1,415.80 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 37.28, or 0.3 percent, to 12,068.50. Verizon Communications, Wal-Mart, and Walt Disney posted the biggest loses on the Dow. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 1.3, or 0.1 percent, to 1,306.10. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 14.91, or 0.6 percent, to 2,737.90.
