The Dow Jones Industrials sank 22.33 points by the close to 12,734.60.

The S&P 500 went down 7.61 points to 1,318.45, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index subtracted 13.03 points to 2,805.28.

The three major indexes started higher but gave up gains throughout the day, and are on track to end in the red.

Disappointing data on the housing market (see below) forced investors to turn cautious, according to some experts.

Fourth-quarter corporate results were also in the spotlight. Caterpillar and 3M, which both posted better-than-expected earnings, were the best performers on the Dow, while Netflix was the biggest winner on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, with shares surging more than 20%.

Late Wednesday, the streaming video and DVD-by-mail company topped earnings and sales expectations. Netflix said it began to add customers again last quarter, after a series of blunders damaged its reputation with consumers and investors.

JCPenney and LSI were also big gainers among the S&P 500, after the companies delivered upbeat forecasts for the first quarter of 2012.

On the flip side, AT&T was the biggest laggard on the Dow after it reported quarterly earnings that fell short of forecasts. Disappointing results from SanDisk also weighed on both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.

E*Trade was the worst performing stock in the S&P 500, after the company posted an unexpected fourth-quarter loss

Nokia shares climbed after the mobile phone maker posted a fourth-quarter loss of €1.1 billion, with sales down 21% compared to the same period a year earlier. Chief Executive Officer Stephen Elop said the Finnish company has sold more than one million Lumia devices, a smartphone using Microsoft (MST) Windows Phone software.

Investors are also still waiting for news out of Athens, where Greek officials are negotiating with private-sector creditors to reduce the country’s debt burden.

A stall or end to the talk, however, would be a major concern. Greece is in desperate need of an agreement to receive additional bailout funds from the European Union and International Monetary Fund. Without these funds, the country may not be able to make a €14-billion debt payment that’s due March 20.

On the economic beat, new home sales tumbled to a record low in 2011, according to government data released Thursday. Just 302,000 new homes were sold in 2011, 6.2% below 2010 and the lowest number of annual sales since the government started tracking home sales in 1963, the report showed.

Elsewhere, initial jobless claims for the week ended Jan. 21 rose to 377,000, up from a revised 356,000 the week prior, according to the U.S. Labor Department. Economists had anticipated 375,000 claims, according to a survey of analysts by Briefing.com.

Durable orders for the month of December rose 3% in December. Economists had expected orders to have risen 2%.

The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Indicators Index for December rose 0.4%. Economists were expecting the index to rise by 0.7%.

Treasury prices for the 10-year note leaped, lowering yields to 1.93% from Wednesday’s 2.01%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil for February delivery were stronger by 36 cents to $99.76 U.S. a barrel.

Gold futures for February delivery gained $26.60 to $1,726.70 U.S. an ounce.

Article provided by www.baystreet.ca.